(1) Read this bio for Spanish poet, Frederico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936)
LORCA WIKIPEDIA BIO
(2) Read the texts and translations for the four poems from Rautavaara's "Suite de Lorca"
I. CANCION DEL JINETE
Córdoba.
Lejana y sola.
Jaca negra, luna grande,
y aceitunas en mi alforja.
Aunque sepa los caminos
yo nunca llegaré a Córdoba.
Por el llano, por el viento,
jaca negra, luna roja.
La muerte me está mirando
desde las torres de Córdoba.
¡Ay qué camino tan largo!
¡Ay mi jaca valerosa!
¡Ay, que la muerte me espera,
antes de llegar a Córdoba!
Córdoba.
Lejana y sola.
I. SONG OF THE HORSEMAN
Cordoba.
Far off and solitary.
A black horse, a round moon,
there are olives in my pack.
Although I know the roads
I will never get to Cordoba.
Across the plain, into the wind,
a black horse, a red moon.
Death is staring at me
from the towers of Cordoba.
Oh, how long is the road!
Oh, how brave is my horse!
Oh, see how death is waiting for me,
before I get to Cordoba!
Cordoba.
Far off and solitary.
I. SONG OF THE HORSEMAN (SONG OF THE RIDER), alternate translation
Cordoba.
Distant and alone.
A black nag, the giant moon,
and olives in my saddlebag.
Even if I know the way,
I never will reach Cordoba.
Over the plain, through the wind,
A black nag, the bloody moon.
The Reaper is watching me
From the tall towers of Cordoba.
Oh, such a long road!
Oh, my valiant nag!
Oh, the Reaper awaits me
before I ever reach Cordoba!
Cordoba.
Distant and alone.
NOTE: A related poem also by Lorca entitled "Cancion del Jinete (1860)" evokes an earlier time of smuggling through the Sierra Morena. It is as if the poet is playing out a story with the same character in two different poems:
Canción de Jinete (1860)
En la luna negra
de los bandoleros,
cantan las espuelas.
Caballito negro
¿Dónde llevas tu jinete muerto?
…Las duras espuelas
del bandido inmóvil
que perdió las riendas.
Caballito frío. Little cold horse.
¡Qué perfume de flor de cuchillo!
En la luna negra,
sangraba el costado
de Sierra Morena.
Caballito negro
¿Dónde llevas tu jinete muerto?
La noche espolea
sus negros ijares
clavándose estrellas.
Caballito frío.
¡Qué perfume de flor de cuchillo!
En la luna negra,
¡un grito! y el cuerno
largo de la hoguera.
Caballito negro
¿Dónde llevas tu jinete muerto?
THE SONG OF THE HORSEMAN (1860)
In the black moon
of the highwaymen
the spurs sing.
Little black horse,
Where are you taking your dead rider?
…The hard spurs
of the motionless bandit
who lost his reins.
Little cold horse.
What a scent of knife-blossom!
In the black moon
bled the mountain-side
of Sierra Morena.
Little black horse,
Where are you taking your dead rider?
The night spurs
her black flanks,
pricking her with stars.
Little cold horse.
What a scent of knife-blossom!
In the black moon,
a shriek! And the long horn
of the bonfire.
Little black horse,
Where are you taking your dead rider?
***
II. EL GRITO
La elipse de un grito,
va de monte
a monte.
Desde los olivos,
será un arco iris negro
sobre la noche azul.
¡Ay!
Como un arco de viola,
el grito ha hecho vibrar
largas cuerdas del viento.
¡Ay!
(Las gentes de las cuevas
asoman sus velones)
¡Ay!
II. THE SCREAM (THE CRY) (THE SHRIEK)
The ellipse of a cry
sighs from hill
to hill.
Rising from the olive trees,
it appears as a black rainbow
upon the azure night.
Ay!
Like the bow of a viol,
the cry causes the long strings
of the wind to vibrate.
Ay!
(The people of the caves
hold out their oil lamps.)
Ay!
II. THE SCREAM (THE CRY) (THE SHRIEK), alternate translation
The arc of a cry
curves from hill
to hill.
From the olive trees,
a black rainbow
over the blue night.
Ay!
Like a viola's bow.
the cry has made the long
strings of the wind vibrate.
Ay!
(The people of the caves
put their oil lamps out.)
Ay!
NOTE: You may want to have a look at "Shrik" ("The Scream"), a famous painting by Norwegian Expressionist artist Edvard Munch (1863-1944). Many art historians have remarked on the rippling effect of the scream around and beyond the foreground figure's head. This reminds me so much of Lorca's line "the ellipse of a cry sighs from hill to hill".
***
III. LA LUNA ASOMA
Cuando sale la luna
se pierden las campanas
y aparecen las sendas
impenetrables.
Cuando sale la luna,
el mar cubre la tierra
y el corazón se siente
isla en el infinito.
Nadie come naranjas
bajo la luna llena.
Es preciso comer
fruta verde y helada.
Cuando sale la luna
de cien rostros iguales,
la moneda de plata
solloza en el bolsillo.
III. THE MOON RISES
When the moon comes out
the bells fade away
and impenetrable paths
appear.
When the moon comes out,
the ocean covers the earth
and the heart feels itself
island in the infinite.
No one eats oranges
under the full moon.
Better to eat fruit
green and icy.
When the moon
of a hundred equal faces
comes out,
the silver coins
weep in the pocket.
III. THE MOON COMES FORTH, first alternate translation
When the moon is out
The bells die away
And impenetrable
Paths come to the fore.
When the moon is out
Water covers land
And the heart feels itself
An island in infinity.
No one eats oranges
Under the full moon.
It is right to eat
Green, chilled fruit.
When the moon is out
With a hundred faces all the same,
Coins of silver
Start sobbing in the pocket.
III. THE MOON APPROACHES, second alternate translation
By the rising of the moon
the bells all fade away,
and sealed pathways
appear.
By the rising of the moon
the sea covers the land
and the heart feels like
an isle in the infinite.
Nobody eats oranges
under the full moon.
One must eat fruit
that is green and cold.
By the rising of the moon
with its hundred similar faces
the silver coin
sobs out in our pockets.
***
IV. MALAGUEÑA
La muerte
entra y sale
de la taberna.
Pasan caballos negros
y gente siniestra
por los hondos caminos
de la guitarra.
Y hay un olor a sal
y a sangre de hembra,
en los nardos febriles
de la marina.
La muerte
entra y sale
y sale y entra
la muerte
de la taberna.
IV. MALAGUEÑA
Death
enters, and leaves,
the tavern.
Black horses
and sinister people
travel the deep roads
of the guitar.
And there’s a smell of salt
and of female blood
in the fevered tuberoses
of the shore.
Death
enters and leaves,
and leaves and enters
the death
of the tavern.
IV. MALAGUEÑA, alternate translation
Death
comes and goes
from the tavern
Passing along the deep
paths of the guitar are
midnight horses
and sinister personas
There is the smell
of brine and the blood
of female comrades
in the sickly ferns of the
shipyard
Death
comes and goes
goes and comes
from the tavern
***
(3) Create a blog post of about one page typed sharing your thoughts about the poems, their meaning, their eerie connection to Lorca's life, the way Rautavaara has set them, etc. I am including some guiding questions for you to consider. You DO NOT have to answer all of these specific questions:
*What is your overall impression of the poems? Do you like them?
*Do you think Lorca effectively creates an "atmosphere" in each of these poems? What specific images does Lorca use throughout the poems that are particularly affecting?
*Are there any common themes/threads between and among the four poems?
CANCION DEL JINETE -
*Who might the horseman be, and what reason might he have to be riding to Cordoba?
*How does Rautavaara build tension in his setting of "Cancion del Jinete"? What specific musical devices does he use?
EL GRITO -
*What is the possible meaning of the first stanza?
*What is going on with the cave people?
*Do you think Rautavaara has effectively set this poem? What are some particularly effective moments in the piece?
LA LUNA ASOMA
*Bells...oranges...and sobbing silver coins - a rather esoteric poem. What possible meaning can you assign to these images? (you may need to do a little research)
MALAGUEÑA
*Are there any political ramifications to the alternate translation of the poem?
*What musical and poetic connections are there between this poem and its setting by Rautavaara and the "Cancion del Jinete"?
OTHER THOUGHTS OR COMMENTS?
Lorca’s poems are beautifully written and very deep, but also quite depressing. If you spend a lot of time thinking them over and diving into their meaning, it could easily put someone in a cold, paranoid, and dark state of mind. This general feeling certainly rubbed off on me, and made me wonder just how Lorca felt while writing them – certainly depressed and desperate to make a strong point. There are many parts that I wish I understood and ownder what intention he had in writing them. For example, in “La Luna Asoma,” there is a part that reads, “No one eats oranges under the full moon. It is right to eat green, chilled fruit.” What?!
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that the poems had a dark and hopeless mood. Black horses present themselves in multiple poems and the color black appears everywhere. Garcia seems to focus a lot on death, which is interesting as he encountered his own death in a violent and unfortunate way. All of the poems are set in the night and the moon is often mentioned. These aspects set an atmosphere of mystery and doom. In “La Luna Asoma,” light is the focus rather than darkness – a new twist! But the poem is invariably grim. Lorca suggests that light reveals what you wish was not there – the things that darkness would conceal. When one sees the big, bleak world in the clarity of light, Lorca claims that “the heart feels itself an island in infinity.” This is not exactly a positive or cheery prospect. I think he is suggesting that sometimes it is just better not to know; that darkness is not always a bad thing.
Finally, I’d like to touch on Rautavaara’s musical devices in el “Cancion del Jinete.” One of its most obvious elements is the use of the octatonic scale, which gives the song the unquestionably eerie, mysterious mood that fits so well with the text. Secondly, the constant undercurrent of “Cordoba” sung by the altos also adds effect. It seems to taunt the rider, “You’ll never make it no matter how hard you try. Give up…” This element gives the piece a droning, step-by-hopeless step feel. Finally, the sudden dynamic changes incorporated throughout the song add an extra depth. They catch the listener’s attention and seem like the poet’s sudden cries of despair (forte) and quiet (piano) moments of accepting defeat.
Sonia Rowley
I enjoyed reading the poems but found them very sad. From the beginning, in the Song of the Horseman, the poem illustrates the lonely, dark, sorrow feeling that the poet seems to want to convey.
ReplyDeleteThe horseman seems lost and scared. . Even though, “the reaper is watching me [the horseman]” (Song of the Rider, alternate translation, line 9) he faces hi sfears by continuing his journey to Cordoba.
The fear grows from one rider to the whole village. The poet writes, “appears as a black rainbow” (The Scream, line 5) which seems to be a contradiction to what a rainbow really is. The connotation of a rainbow is to bring light and joy after an awful storm. In this poem, he describes the rainbow as dark. Lorca seems to have some sort of relief associate with death and darkness. If he were to describe a rainbow in a dark way, would he describe death in a light-hearted way?
Later we see that he describes death as a fleeting, simple part of life. “Death
comes and goes from the tavern” (Malaguena, alternate translation, line 1-3). He also describes many instances of loss. He says that people are to eat the cold fruit, and they seem to have lost a lot of silver. He does not write very much description; Lorca merely comes out and says the facts. He does not put much “fluff” into these poems. Overall, I enjoyed reading these poems and found them very thought-provoking.
-Syd Abrams
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the depth of Lorca’s poems; however, I am not touched by beauty or emotion. I feel there is a lack of poetic technique (rhyme, rhythm). We were given various translations of the text, and among each there are slight differences. For example, in the first stanza of “Song of the Horseman”, the three translations have very different strengths and weaknesses. I find the first translation to have greater intensity, but this is an interpretation by a translator, not the poet himself. It could be that Lorca used a myriad of poetic devices in Spanish, but much of the intention was lost when translated into English. I think the line from one translation “A black horse, a round moon,/ there are olives in my pack.” is depicted in prose, rather than poetry, while in another “A black nag, the giant moon,/ and olives in my saddlebag” is supported with more passion. However, I think there is more tension in Rautavaara’s musical interpretation of the text rather than the various translations because of tempo, chords, etc. In general, I think music captures more emotion behind words than poetry.
ReplyDeleteFrequent crescendos in Rautavaara’s “Cancion del Jinete” help to build tension. The crescendo happens as the horseman is journeying to Cordoba. His journey is full of tension because he sees the futility of his efforts. In the piece, the word “Cordoba” is accented many times, and even repeated by the lower two parts. This is meant to show the importance of a place one will never reach. The text specifically states, “Even if I know the way,/ I never will reach Cordoba.” The “ellipse of a cry” is represented musically when the four parts are within notes of each other. Rautavaara definitely set this piece well because the notes among parts are tightly written which sounds like screeching. The moon is also menacing throughout the texts, as it is lurking above and almost taunts the horseman. The entire fourth poem is devoted to the exploration of the moon theme. “By the rising of the moon/ with its hundred similar faces/ the silver coin/ sobs out in our pockets”.
I’m not going to repeat everything Sonia said, but I definitely think the poetry relates directly to Lorca’s dark life. Lorca became depressed in his life after his harsh breakup. This corresponds to the poems in the repetition of dark words such as “solitary, black, never, death, long, fade, infinite, island, no one, icy, weep” etc. These words show Lorca’s mindset during the time in which he wrote the poems when he felt increasingly alienated and isolated from society. Rautavaara’s pieces have many sharps/flats/accidentals that replicate the eeriness in Lorca’s life and his poetry. Though the text is already somewhat eerie, the musical devices used (crescendos, dissonance, accents, repetition, etc) emphasize the sadness, darkness, and depression of Lorca’s life.
-Joanna Garmon (forgot to put my name!! not that there are any other joannas........)
Okay so starting off with the Rautavarra “Suite De Lorca” I personally feel so connected to that peace, just because the Boston Children’s Chorus performed it a couple years ago and I had heard it before and just by listening to it I thought it was such a beautiful piece, but also hard to learn. Just singing it is a great feeling, so yes I like this piece. Song of the Horseman: the meaning of this is so confusing to me. I personally believe that the horseman is the man that’s riding a horse all the way to Cordoba. The words “across the plain, into the wind” show that the speaker is determined to get to Cordoba no matter what happens. Cordoba: it’s just so fascinating at the word choice of the poem, “how long is the road! how brave is my horse!” just such powerful words, that give the song movement. El Grito: the first stanza to me means , the speaker is on a path with lots of hills, and is struggling therefore he/she sighs, and cries. This reflects the title, because if someone is struggling and having difficulties they tend to “scream” and that’s what El Grito means. The music also relates to that, because it’s so many notes next to one another that it sounds different, not ‘pretty’ it sounds like someone is literally screaming at the audience, I think as a choir if we can hit the notes, it’ll sound like a good scream! In general all Lorca’s songs are on the sad side. Meaning it mentions death a lot, or screams and crying. Looking at Lorca’s life, it wasn’t a pretty one, so I understand why he might have this reflection on his music.
ReplyDeleteValentina Gambino
I liked the poems mainly because of all the imagery Lorca uses to paint a certain mood. Some of the images/ideas that drew me in were: Death is staring at him from Cordoba’s towers, a black rainbow upon the blue night, the shriek/scream causing the strings of the wind to vibrate, nobody eats oranges under the full moon/it’s better to eat green and icy fruit...etc. Some of the images he used were very clear in their meaning, like the shriek making the wind vibrate- and others were a little more confusing for me, like the part about eating fruit under the moon.
ReplyDeleteThere are definitely common themes among the four poems. Generally speaking, all four of the poems have the same type of "feel" to them- they give off the same type of dark, uneasy, eerie sense to readers. As far as actual themes, the three I noticed were death, hopelessness, and the feeling of being trapped. In Song of the Horseman, Lorca explores the idea of death staring at the horse rider from the towers of Cordoba, waiting for him before he even arrives. The horse rider knows he will never reach Cordoba despite knowing the roads well. The horseman feels like he is trapped by his gloomy fate- there is no point in hoping because his death is near. In Malaguena, lines like “sinister people” create a feeling of hopelessness. Also, I think the structure of the poem is interesting and intentional. The poem begins with and ends with death entering/leaving the tavern, sandwiching the entire poem. I think that adds to the "trapped" feeling of the poem- that no matter what happens, everything is surrounded by death. In La Luna Asoma, the sealed pathways create a sense of predetermined fate and feeling trapped/hopeless, and the line about the silver coins sobbing adds to the hopeless feeling of the poem.
In his bio, it says that Lorca knew he would be targeted for his liberal views during a time of political turmoil in Spain. So that makes me think that the theme of impending death in La Malaguena is Lorca's way of expressing his sense of approaching harm/death in his real life. The line, "There is the smell of brine and the blood" might express that there is a feeling of death in the air, which could possibly correspond with the Spanish Civil War happening during the time. The "sinister personas" Lorca refers to could be the people whom he feels are out to get him.
Also, I think the dynamics are interesting. In Cancion del Jinete/Song of the Horseman, there are fortes/crescendos over the parts that talk about how death is the rider’s fate, like "Although I know the roads, I will never get to Cordoba" and “Death is staring at me from the towers of Cordoba”…they basically emphasize the most important/sinister message of the song, which is that the rider will die before he reaches Cordoba.
Overall, I agree with what everyone else has said so far about Lorca’s life being not too great, and this is definitely reflected by the dark and mysterious quality of his songs.
-Mallika
Despite the Lorcas’s use of simple diction, each movement is so eloquent in its portrayal of the story. After working through Cancion del Jinete and El Grito, the elements that support the text have become much more apparent to me. Such elements are especially key when performed for an audience to which the song’s language is foreign.
ReplyDeleteIn Cancion del Jinete, the music emphasizes the idea of loneliness. The repetition of “Cordoba” by the altos represents the distance covered by the horseman throughout the piece, and maybe even his strong intent to reach the city. The dissonant harmony sets up a sort of eerie, ominous backdrop not only for the higher voices, but also for the landscape of the traveler’s journey. The frequent use solos in the movement also implies solitude. The first and last lines both read, “lejana y sola” or, “distant and alone”. Such an idea is most powerfully expressed by one single voice. However, the use of the full choir also helps send the message of the poem across. For example, “yo nunca llegaré” (I will never get to Cordoba) is sung forte with stacked harmonies, illustrating the traveler in a state of great fear and panic. The volume of entire choir heightens his emotions.
In El Grito, similar musical elements are used to portray some of the main ideas of the poem. The movement begins with tightly stacked harmonies, forte, as the text reads “la elipse de un grito va de monte a monte” (the arc of a cry curves from hill to hill). In this way, shrill dissonance sets up the mood for the piece, because the cry suggests pain and agony- whoever is crying is certainly not making an effort to stifle the noise. The text continues, “desde los olivos…” (rising from the olive trees) and is paralleled by the soprano’s climbing line. The poem eventually makes a comparison of the cry to a violist’s bow. The altos read the line as the sopranos glissando on top of them, evenly, emulating the movement of a string instrument’s sound. As a violist, I definitely appreciate this part!
I personally believe each of these pieces is brilliantly written and each creates profound images and thoughts. The poems are unlike any I have read before which is why I find them particularly intriguing. Each poem has a very distinct feeling and message to it even though there are many similarities between each of them.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading each poem I am left with an eerie, dark, evil feeling. They almost seem like Halloween stories or stories you would tell around a campfire at night. Each poem is so filled with these feelings that it describes how Rautavaara must have been feeling while writing these poems and reflect a great deal on his life and on his violent death.
Talk of death, nighttime, black horses, screams, and moonlight seem to be a similarity between the poems. They are all described so well that you are able to picture what is happening and what Rautavaara must have been envisioning when he wrote the poems. The images in each poem are very apparent. In the poem Malaguena I especially like the personification of death. Each time I read the poem I am able to see death walking in and out of the tavern. Also, the image of the cold, black horse carrying its dead rider to Cordoba is particularly grotesque and effecting in the poem Cancion del Jinete.
I’m not sure exactly who the horseman riding to Cordoba is, but I’m sure there is a very good reason for him needing to be there because there is a sense of urgency throughout the poem. The urgency and tension in the poem are also partly created from the musical devises Rautavaara uses throughout the text. All of the crescendos and decrescendos in certain moments in the music really add emphasis on what’s being sung. Also, the repeating of “Cordoba” under the melody for the whole song really tells how much the rider needs to get to Cordoba and gives it that really eerie feeling. But the lyrics about how death is waiting and how he’ll never reach Cordoba really darkens the story and intensifies it. The octatonic scale that the altos follow creates the evil feeling because of how it mixes with the other notes being sung.
The first stanza of El Grito is very interesting in what it might mean. I believe it is talking about a blood-curling scream that is let out and is explaining how the sound is traveling from hill to hill. The first few words, “La elipse de un grito” are very interesting in how they literally sound like shrieking. The harmonies have no notes separating them, they sound as if someone just played random notes on the piano. This really emphasizes the fact that the scream is terrifying and that it really travels across the land because the voices singing it sound like they are screaming.
The similarities between Malaguena and Cancion de Jinete are that in both the poems death is written as if it’s a person. Both of the poems talk about seeing death and death walking. This is very interesting because it makes me wonder if maybe Rautavaara maybe thought of death as a person, or that it had human characteristics. Maybe that’s why he talked about death as he did and why all of his poems were so dark.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading the poems and analyzing them and I can’t wait until we sing them!
~Jessi Dimmock
Okay, I think that all of these poems are beautiful and well written, but I also think they are some of the most depressing poems I have ever read and the way Lorca writes them, it almost seems like he wants to have death greet him and take him away. I love these poems but it is almost hard to read them because they are so sad and almost make me feel lonely in a way.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I noticed about Lorca's poems is that they all have the moon in them in some way. It seems as though Lorca really likes the night which is even more terrifying because I hate the dark, and talking about the "the bloody moon" (Song of the Horseman, alternate version) and how death is watching the horseman at night, will probably give me nightmares.
That being said, I think that Rautavaara did an amazing job writing his pieces. They are creepy and haunting in a way that Lorca would have been proud of. It is very exciting (and terrifying) to sing these pieces and I have enjoyed it very much even though it has been a bit of a challenge.
I like El Grito the best, I'm not sure why, but I love the music for it. I think the first stanza is talking about how a cry echoes over the hills long after it has been made. I also thin that the cave people are just normal people, hiding from the screams that they can hear in the night. I love what Rautavaara does with the screams, they are creepy and almost give you chills when they are done right. I am really excited to sing this piece and hopefully give people chills.
Sorry if this is all over the place, that's just how I write.
As touched on in previous posts, I also found Lorca’s poems to be focused on the contrast of light and dark, color versus black. As the poems progress, the build of color references also grows. In Cancion Del Jinete, the only colors mentioned are black (death/darkness) and red (blood/violence). In El Grito, as azure/blue night is described, still a gloomy color but with a bit more life than before. As the moon rises in La Luna Asoma, orange, green, and silver are added to the mix giving this poem a much more hopeful and lively feel. Finally, the poem comes full circle in Malaguena, when black, red, and the subsequent theme of death and pain once again take the stage. Lorca’s uses of color throughout the poems parallel the overall trend of Lorca’s life. In his time, the poet and dramatist withstood harsh criticism, self-hatred, and loss of friends. These occurrences had a huge role in shaping Lorca, just as black is prominent through the entirety of the poems. However, just as there are also moments of color in the poem, Lorca also did enjoy some happiness in his life, such as his fast friendship with Dali.
ReplyDeleteI also could not help but notice the melodramatic nature prominent in the text of the poems themselves and in the musicality of the pieces. For example, in El Grito, Lorca repeats the exclamatory statement “Ay!” three times, evoking a sense of restlessness, frustration, and longing. This tone is also set musically by the dramatic shriek-like jump/slides that accompany this text. Likewise, in Cancion del Jinete, the text makes a number of dramatized statements in row (Oh, such a long road! Oh, my valiant nag! Oh, the Repeater awaits me…!), each one more desperate than the next. The music also plays with this idea of growing action, as each claim in the piece gets higher and more frantic than the previous. The dramatic nature of Lorca’s poems probably grew from his experience in theater. He was an influential playwright, and his poems reflect that passion.
Overall, I am a fan of these poems. They are rich in imagery and dramatic statements, both of which I feel are complimented throughout the pieces. I think Lorca put a lot of his life experiences into the poems and I can feel his energy come through when I sing these pieces on text.
In Cancion Del Jinete (the Song of the Horseman), the atmosphere is created as a dark, dreary journey. The lonely rider is striving to reach a place that is far in the distance and he believes he will never make it there. He feels that death is looming over him, blocking his path to Cordoba. The mood seems to be exhausting and desperate, as well as hopeless.
ReplyDeleteIn El Grito (the Scream) a scream is carried a great distance. It is compared to a black rainbow on an azure sky, making it terrifying. The cry moves the wind in the same way as a bow across the strings of a viola. This comparison gives the illusion that the cry is musical and powerful. An important distinction between the translations is that the first says the “people of the caves hold out their oil lamps” which to me means that the people are peering out the side of the cave to see who is shrieking. Perhaps they want to help them, or perhaps they pity the person. In the second translation it reads, “The people of the caves put their oil lamps out.” This makes me think of the cave people hiding their light from the screamer, either out of fear or because this is a usual occurrence.
In the Moon Rises, the first stanza shows a contradiction. While the moon gives light, it reveals paths that one cannot go down. While things are being illuminated by the moon, it is also shining it’s light on a person’s or the author’s loneliness. There is a coldness brought with the moon. The oranges could represent sweetness and cheerfulness, while the icy greens seem to be cold and bitter and represent despair. The last line of silver coins weeping in the pocket to me represents the idea that money doesn’t buy happiness.
All four poems take place or tell of events in the night. The moods are all somewhat dreary and gloomy. They are somber poems, some dealing with death, others with loneliness. There is a common theme of comparison to musical instruments like the shriek in the night like a viola and the dark paths of evil compared to a guitar. There is also a common theme of fruit, which normally would seem a cheerful topic, but in these poems become twisted into dark and somewhat depressing thoughts. These four poems have very similar dark atmospheres.
~Jamie Zack
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ReplyDeleteI really love these poems and I think the music Rautavaara’s music really suits it. Throughout the music and lyrics there is an ominous and foreboding feeling, like there is something constantly lurking around the corner.
ReplyDeleteIn the Song of the Horseman, it seems like the rider is searching for something, but he knows he will never find it. In the earlier version of this poem it repeats “Little black horse, where are you taking your dead rider?” Its almost as if the rider being dragged along through his life and journey – and is metaphorically, if not literally, dead. He calls Cordoba, “far off and solitary” – so perhaps he is running away from people or his past, looking for something better, peace. It reminds me of the Exodus. I think his words are extremely relatable, because it often feels as though I am personally dragged through life between school and work and obligations – searching for release.
The tone of the second part, The Scream, is very similar to the first’s. Its almost as if the rider has at last died, and his shriek, his final remains are echoing through the hills, dissipating and finally disappearing. The people of the caves with their oil lamps seem to represent society, and how they are curious about him and his final shriek, but are not really moved to do anything more than to merely observe the spectacle. Perhaps also, these people live in caves because Lorca might see society as almost animalistic and savage in their ignorant and self-centered outlook. I think this line about the cave people, closely reflects how Lorca was treated by society and how out-casted he was.
The Moon Rises is my favorite part. I’m not really sure what the reference to the oranges means, but I know in Spain they grow blood oranges – which seems very Lorca-esque. Maybe people had to sell the oranges to make money. The silver coins might be “sobbing” because it the oranges might represent a part of the people’s soul that they are selling away for money, which inevitably feels worthless.
My favorite lines out of the whole suite are “When the moon comes out/ the ocean covers the earth/ And the heart feels itself/ An island in the infinite.” (The second stanza of the Moon Comes Forth). I think these lines describe a disastrous event, perhaps literally a flood (maybe like that of the bible, Noah’s Ark?), and how tiny and insignificant the person/people feel and realize they are. Although it is quite sad, its at the same time beautiful. Its as if the person/people are surrendering to the fear for the first time, instead of running from it.
Kelly Zhang
I found Lorca's poems immensely fascinating and eery. His word choice, though sometimes odd at first read, does a magnificent job of painting the pictures of gloom and despair I am sure he means to portray. I am not sure how much I like the poems, which is not a criticism of the author: I really admire them and the way he makes it able to get his messages even in a translation. However, admiring and liking something are two different matters. These poems are by construction depressing, and it is hard to like something that is intended to make you feel a sense of despair. So I guess in an emotional sense, I don't really like these poems, but from an appreciation standpoint I think they are brilliant. First of all, Lorca's usage of bizarre word choice and imagery only heightens the confusion and bleakness of the tones in his pieces. His constant use of the words “black” - and especially when he uses the term “black rainbow,” - “red,” and “olive” paint a picture using dark, dull colors that are usually associated with a lack of hope and death. Further, terms such as “scent of knife-blossom” and “fruit/ green and icy” are so strange and eery that they make it hard for the reader to fully understand the poem. This, I believe, only adds to the tone Lorca creates. His poems are all about darkness and ambiguous happenings, and sometimes the uncertainty of whether the subject will even survive. Overall, his goal is to translate that feeling of the subject to the reader, and saying outright what is happening would defeat the purpose. Because of this, reading the poems may not make much sense at first, but will always connotate that ominous and spooky sensation. I rather enjoyed reading these poems and seeing how they are then put to music by Rautavaara. Rautavaara's music, too, is weird and doesn't always make “sense,” but he still manages to, like Lorca, use his medium to put the listener (or reader) on edge. Overall, I think the marriage of these two creations – Lorca's poem and Rautavaara's music – was very well done, and can indeed be called an outstanding piece of art.
ReplyDelete-Katie Schmidt
I feel as if Lorca had a very distinct attitude toward death, as a person, and as an emotion.
ReplyDeleteHe portrays the anticipation and fear throughout the poems and it is felt greatly in the music with the looming alto line that taunts the rider. I also find his poems very innocent, as if he is trying to protect himself by persuading that such dangers and horrors that he depicts cannot happen. And it is no surprise that that tragedy should in real life happen to a person who feels so weak and harmed that he writes many poems about death. He might have even scared himself, for in the time of depression that he spent writing these horrifying ideas, the terror of the war in Spain and the new location (New York) might have changed his confidence in himself and in his work. It is never an easy life to be a poet, usually most of them end up harmed of killed by their rivals, and that is what could have happened to Lorca, though we know very little on why they killed him.
The magnificent part of these poems are their similarities and yet their different perspectives. As said before, death looms everywhere accompanied by the large and bright moon, who trails after the black horse. There is always the feeling of self –disappointment, especially when he says” Where are you taking your dead rider?” as if he has already decided that he is hopeless, that he is dead. And yet, there is also the line where Lorca hints that although the surrounding darkness, the heart remains to shine,”…The ocean covers the earth/ and the heart feels itself/ island in the infinite”. It can also symbolize solitude, but in the next stanza it is stated that the moon with a hundred equal faces is watching the rider, and with death after him, I think instead of loneliness he would feel surrounded.
One of most powerful lines in the poems, from my point of view, is the one in The Scream, where Lorca compares the sound to “ the bow of a viol/ the cry causes the long strings/ of the wind to vibrate/ “. There is no doubt that Lorca’s poems have continued to vibrate through all his readers, the horror of his story and the power of his writing has created an image that sticks in the listener and doesn’t let go, filled with the truth of human life. Suffering and solitude is what most likely led Lorca into depression, knowing the cruel side of human life and death does not gain people happiness, those facts usually lead their victims into deeper trouble. Which is why I decided to end with a quote that
froze me so much when I read about Lorca’s death. It depicts his thoughts, perspective and hope, that his voice will continue on. “I want to sleep awhile, awhile, a minute, a century, but all must know that I have not died.” ( Gacela of Dark Death).
Shai Dinnar
I am usually a big fan of poetry and Lorca's poems are no exception. They truly capture the aura of death and the emotions which come with it.
ReplyDeleteIn "Malagueña" the imagery of death through its personification resonates with me because it captures unkown of the reasons for death as well as life. The talk of "female" blood would perhaps cause some political controversy because it is talking about how perhaps women were treated and viewed by the government as well as society as a whole.
For me "El Grito" is quite haunting. It tackles the issue of sound and what it means to us. Although the words are already scary as a poem, the music adds a new detention. The fear and anger that come with a scream are brought alive with the unsettling chords.
The "Song of the Rider" also has a deep meaning that seems to almost jump of the page. The starkness of the sticatto notes we sing seem to show the harshness of life. Even if us as people try to do everything right, it will all end.
"La Luna Asoma" talks more about nature and how the earth will always have its own will. This somewhat makes me think of how in modern day, we can build cities and improve technology but we will never be able to control nature because it is stronger than any of us.
I am not completely sure why these poems resonate with me so deeply. It may actually be for the opposite reason then what Joanna said. The fact that when these poems stand alone they seem to lack rhyme or rhythm shows that Lorca didn't want to just conform to what poetry "should" be but rather, he did everything he could to make the reader/listener get chills from the pure emotions and realizations that occur as a result of his words.
-Rachel Swack
Lorca’s poems are quite expressive and deep while at the same time being extremely dark and twisted. The poems deal heavily with death, isolation, and pure terror. In some sense, I do enjoy the poems; they are wonderfully written with fantastic imagery and figurative language. Each stanza gives a specific scene as to what Lorca was feeling while he was writing, and because of the language he uses, he gives the reader a specific image in each stanza. However, I didn’t have any emotion or feeling for the poems until I was able to read the translations. Although I was able to tell that there was much tension in the poems from the dynamics, I wasn’t able to grasp their depth. When one is reading the poems, they are given the overall impression that one is given when reading the poems is one of depression, isolation, death and suffering. Lorca writes, “And there’s a smell of salt/and of female blood/in the fevered tuberoses/of the shore” and “Death/enters, and leaves,/the tavern./Black horses/and sinister people”, contributing to the ideas of torture and death.
ReplyDeleteIn Cancion Del Jinete, tension is built using the dynamics, particularly the crescendos. They provide a build-up to the climax of the phrase, using a tremendous amount of emotion, especially in the areas in which the crescendos are utilized. Crescendos are used in the phrases “A black horse, a round moon,/there are olives in my pack./Although I know the roads/I will never get to Cordoba”, “Death is staring at me/from the towers of Cordoba”, and “Oh, see how death is waiting for me,/before I get to Cordoba!” In each phrase, the dynamic reaches f at the most intense point and climatic point of the phrase, emphasizing the eeriness and deadliness of the phrases.
I feel that Lorca’s life was most definitely reflected in his work. In his biography, there are many references of his depression and his self-alienation and isolation. These themes are most evident in all of his poems; the constant references of death and suffering, the eerie imagery, and the underlying message of isolation and the fear of being alone. Not only are his experiences evident in the text of these poems but also in the musicality of the pieces. The building of the dissonant chords contributed to the, for lack of a better word, spookiness of the poem. The chords, making you cringe; also contribute to the idea of the wrongness of Lorca’s life, and the issues that he was going through. The sharps/flats/dissonance of the chords also contribute to the sadness and darkness of Lorca’s life; the idea that it is not right, that something is most definitely wrong.
Sarah Hahn - Du Pont
I thought these poems were so beautiful and twisted in their depth. They gave me an eerie feeling that reminds me of foggy nights when the moon is out. They all have at least one thing in common- death. Whether it was a dead rider, a dead spirit, or a death cry, death was very prominent in all the poems. I thought these poems were very interesting and emotional, so I wasn’t surprised when I felt slightly depressed after reading it. These are very powerful poems, and I can see how the feelings portrayed in them rubbed off on me.
ReplyDeleteIn “El Grito”, the first stanza really sets the stage for the rest of the poem. “The arc of a cry curves from hill to hill.” This image makes me think that the cry could be for anything; for murder, for torture, for help. And I thought it goes perfectly with the famous painting “Shrik”. They both portray how a scream can affect its surroundings. The rippling effect that is in the painting and described in the poem illustrate how one high-pitched scream can have the same effect as a dangerous storm. Adding “Ay!” at the end of every stanza really gives a shock because the rest of the poem is so eerie. I imagine that in a choral arrangement, it would give the audience a jolt of surprise and keep them at the edges of their seats.
There was a line that really stood out to me in “Cancion Del Jinete”. “Little black horse, Where are you taking your dead rider?” This line, which is repeated a few times throughout the reading gives a horrific innocence. By innocence, I mean that it sounds like something a child might say- so simple and undetailed if looked at shallowly, but so haunting and twisted if looked at deeply. This definitely builds the uncomfortable tension; also, having the horse a black horse makes it physically darker, because the horse would probably blend into the darkness. But throughout the whole poem, a lonely sensation hit me. He rides alone, he dies alone.
Over all, I thought these were gorgeous pieces. They are so intensely written with such passion, and they are so interesting to study and sing.
- Isabel Pastore
I agree with what everyone is saying! I don't know why I didn't realize it from the extremely dissonant chords and creepy intervals, but all of these songs are very dark! The ominous presence of death is terrifying in the poems. I first time I read through La Luna Asona I couldn't help but laugh when it mentioned oranges. It felt very out on context from the themes of dark v light and death. I'm not quite sure what it means. I literally just searched "myth of eating oranges during full moon", but I only found things in asian cultures.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why the horseman is riding to Cordoba. Is he ready for death? He's certainly heading towards it! Even by describing the moon as round and red, I can see it. It looks beautiful! It's an interesting combination with death waiting in Cordoba.
El Grito sent chills through my spine. The language used is so descriptive and precise. It's a painting in words! I can clearly see the azure sky hanging over head. Not blue. Not Sky blue. Not a faint tint of something that's really similar to blue. Azure. It gives an amazing elegance to the darkness of the poem.
~Nancy Chomitz
So many people have touched on the power of imagery in these poems and songs showing how word choice can paint a particularly negative image for the audience and control their perception of the story presented. The selection of dark, dismal, and depressing words evokes an impressively strong feeling within the audience which is exactly what makes this kind of poem so influential that it lasts for centuries. I love how the chords and dynamics in our music build the same image for our audience with our voices echoing the carefully chosen words of the poet. It's amazing how the smallest details in our phrasing and emotions as we sing can be as equally powerful as the language we sing in, regardless of whether or not the audience understands the original language. I personally take french, so I can not pull any meaning out of the poems besides a word or phrase here and there within the text. This is a challenge for me because I then have to rely on the translations to understand the poems clearly. This presents problems as the translations are based off of not only the ideas of author but also those of the translator. I find the differences between the translations to be interesting because in my own interpretation of them, I am interpreting another person's view. Without knowing the original language, it is near impossible to directly reach the original meaning. This is not an idea that had ever truly occurred to me even though we sing in other languages every day. I never questioned the translation given to us as it hadn't fully occurred to me that only singing what you learned based off of a translation may be a problem. The general idea could always be achieved, and smaller aspects of the stories could also be summarized enough for us to sing about them. It is the smallest details; however, that play the most important role in any piece of art. These are the details that are lost frequently in translations. Without them, our relationship with the author is weakened and the power of each specifically chosen word may be removed. This makes me wish that I had taken additional languages and seen more translations, or spoken to someone who speaks those languages, to get closer to the deeper meaning.
ReplyDelete- Megan Iverson
I found the poems eerie yet oddly fascinating. They are all very sad, and you can tell that Lorca was in an extremely bad place when he wrote them. Lorca creates a slightly different atmosphere in each poem, however they are all extremely depressing. I found it interesting that there are many images of the natural world throughout all of the poems, which emphasizes the connection Lorca feels to nature. Each of the poems has comparisons between light and dark, which shows the conflict Lorca feels between his public life and private one. I think that Rautavaara understood the deeper meaning of the poems, and this allowed him to portray with music what may not have been expressed in the text. The way the opening line is portrayed in “El Grito” gives me chills, as it expresses the hopelessness and terror of an actual scream. The music seems as though it should sound bad, the dissonance adds tension, which allows the listener to understand the feeling of the poems, even if they cannot understand the words. Lorca’s political views are subtly portrayed throughout the poems, and are especially apparent in the alternate translation of “Malagueña”. The use of the word “comrade” shows the communist tendencies of Lorca, and the civil war that was being fought during the period of writing. The poems are terrifyingly close to the actual events of Lorca’s life, which ended suddenly and tragically. The poems are extremely tragic, and the terseness of Lorca’s writing seems to mimic the sharp end of his life. Lorca’s poems do not have a high word count, yet they are successful in getting their point across to the reader. The imagery of the poems is enhanced by the music they are set to. Rautavaara captures the feeling of each phrase, changing the music to fit the feeling, not only of the poem in general, but of each line. Overall, I think that the music complements the poems, and adds a deeper meaning than the text alone.
ReplyDelete-- Emmy Wheaton
Usually I am not a huge fan of poetry, but there is something about Spanish poetry that I absolutely love. I love the Lorca poetry, but not necessarily the message. The “atmosphere” that he creates is somewhat depressing, he mentions death more than a few times within the series of poems, even going as far as to paint the picture of a dead rider on a horse who has “lost the reins.” Although I am not a fan of the dark images he describes in the poems, I do like the style of poetry. His poetry uses short phrases to clearly get across the feeling of the images he puts across. This made the poetry more meaningful, mostly to me because I actually understood the Spanish he was using because of the short phrases. Knowing Spanish, singing the Lorca has a different feeling to me than someone who does not, actually understanding what I am saying while singing gives it a different connotation. One thing I noticed while reading the translations was the amount of sensory images Lorca uses, such as the smell of blood, and the personification of death traveling to and from the tavern. He uses colors to aid in the sensory imagery: “silver coin,” “green fruit,” “black rainbow,” “blue night,” “black/red moon,” “black horse”… etc. His simple language and sensory descriptions give the short stanzas an intense, but clear, meaning through the images he chooses. I’m excited to sing the rest of the Lorca pieces because knowing the overall translation, and a little more about his life, will add to the way our chorus sings the poems together, with a deeper understanding.
ReplyDelete--Maya Strod
I second what Nancy said! At first when I just listened to the piece I was thrown off by the unpleasant/non resolving chords, but after reading more about his life and the translations of the pieces I understand the intention of each discomforting chord. Also, I feel bad for all the pain and suffering Lorca had to experience throughout his life just due to his liberal political views. You could see his suffering in his works, because all of them have an eerie, painful, and discomforting feel. The “Song of the Horseman” for me has the most eerie feeling out of all of the other ones. The simplicity of the words allows some subtext that is unsaid between the poet and the reader.
ReplyDeleteOn a different note, I was a bit confused why he decided to say
“No one eats oranges
under the full moon.
Better to eat fruit
green and icy.”
in “The Moon Rises”. In all honesty that took me out of the poem. Maybe it is significant to the Spanish culture , but I am not quiet sure. Thus, by seeing the translation I was able to understand why the composer chose to use so many dissident chords.
Out of the pieces that we've begun singing so far, the Rautavaara is by far my favorite. I love this piece because although it is made up of smaller sections, Rautavaara did a wonderful job piecing them together seamlessly. All of his movements seem to fit together, and fit with Lorca’s original text as well. The underlying theme of darkness and despair are spread throughout each individual text, and the musical setting has the feeling as well. When I read the poems, and especially when I listen to the recording, I feel as though I am riding along with the horseman, and I feel his emotions. I feel like I am riding for my life, but know that I will not reach my goal in the end, like the horseman in Lorca’s poems. I really like the imagery of the moon and color that Lorca used. His descriptiveness really draws the reader in, and makes them a part of his story. Something that made it difficult for me to enjoy the poems was the variations of translation provided for the original Spanish text. I know that it is difficult to capture the exact sentiment intended for when translating, but I think that some Lorca’s original thoughts were lost in translation.
ReplyDeleteBetween all of the pieces in the Rautavaara, “El Grito” is my favorite musical setting. We are used to singing in a more perfect harmony, so it is hard not to be a little shocked and taken aback by hearing the clashing notes of the opening line. I think that Rautavaara very effectively set this section, because when I hear the shrillness and staccato notes of “El Grito” the first thing I think of is “The Scream” painting. This painting not only embodies the musical representation of the words, but Lorca’s words themselves. “The ellipse of a cry sighs from hill to hill” could not be represented any more perfectly with a painting, or with music. The lines about the cave people in this section make me think of people coming out of their dark houses, into a eerily dark night, with only their lamps for light as a doomed horseman rides through their town. This idea adds to the eery and grim feeling of the poems and music as a whole.
The fact that Lorca seemingly predicted his own murder in this collection of poems is another factor which makes these pieces even more creepy. Lorca’s “Cordoba” seems to be the political revolution he was endorsing, and which was most logically the reason for his death. Lorca was “riding” in speaking out about the Spanish political situation, yet he knew he would never reach his goal, and thus die before he reached “Cordoba”. Because the overwhelming feel of these poems is eery and dark, this ironic situation fits perfectly with the musical setting of Lorca’s poems.
Eliza Abdu-Glass
I would agree with everyone that said it was beautifully written and whatnot, and I’m sure Lorca put a lot of work into writing the poems, but honestly I think it’s really difficult to understand. I mean we get the whole death theme seen throughout all four parts, but Lorca’s wide variety of word choices (ranging from description of the moon, poems 1 and 2, to guitars in stanza 2 of “Malaguena”) makes it difficult for me to connect the dots and see the big picture of what he’s trying to get at.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading his biography from Wikipedia, I could connect the desperate and disturbing descriptions to Lorca’s own desperate and disturbing life. Lorca was a writer during a time of turmoil and chaos, so it’s no wonder his writings would reflect the difficulties he faced every day. I feel like Lorca chose the random words as parts of the disturbing descriptions in his poems to show the dangerous things he experiences. After some thought, I think Lorca’s flighty sentence structure and random word choice is a reflection of his unfortunate life, which can also be conveyed through the sound of the piece (e.g. El Grito’s screaming).
Jessica Lin
I feel that the hardships in Lorca's life really shone through and almost justify the darkness in his poems. In the first two poems, there's a sense of hopelessness but journeying on even when you know there's not going to be a happy ending. In "Song of the Horseman (Song of the Rider)" this is especially portrayed in the line "Even if I know the way/I will never reach Cordoba...oh, the Reaper awaits me/before I ever reach Cordoba." In "The Song of the Horseman" there's a repeated stanza "little black horse/ where are you taking your dead rider?" The horse journeys on even if her rider has passed away.
ReplyDeleteThe Scream (The Cry) (The Shriek)" portrays that split second moment when you know something has gone wrong, you just don't know what.That can be the scariest moment of all.
For any Lord of the Rings fans out there, some of the poems remind me of Frock getting chased by the fallen kings (the dementor- like things) because it contains that same sense of urgency, darkness and fear.
I actually love the beginning of The Scream. That clashing of notes reminds me of striking too many notes on a piano. The sound, as Rachel said, "brings it alive". The audience is there with the singers,understanding the eerie qualityof the poem and music.
-Vivien
I thought that the poems were very darkly elegant, and this voice made them more meaningful to read and comprehend. For example, when Lorca talks about death in Malaguena, he says:
ReplyDelete"Death
comes and goes
from the tavern
Passing along the deep
paths of the guitar are
midnight horses
and sinister personas"
He personifies death as a force that spreads it's darkness. He uses descriptions such as midnight horses and sinister personas, both which have dark and eerie qualities to them. Also, he states that death comes and goes, which I found confusing, because I would think death comes once to a person and stay. He could be referencing that when someone dies, someone else is born, so he could mean "life comes and goes".
I really liked the line "Although I know the roads, I will never get to Cordoba" from the Song of the Horseman. Lorca is showing that Cordoba is not a pleasant palce to go, and that it is difficult to reach there. However, instead of directly saying that, he exaggerates the concept by stating that even if wanted to go, he couldn't. I thought that this more indirect way of getting his message across was very clever, and it made his point stronger and more clear.
Lastly, I found the translation of the scream very interesting, and surprisingly pleasing. I most enjoyed the second stanza: "From the olive trees, a black rainbow, over the blue night." Olive trees commonly symbolize peace, wisdom, and hope; so I felt that Lorca was juxtaposing the trees against the darkness and mystery of the night. I also love the metaphor of the scream being a black rainbow against a blue sky, because the night sky is already so dark and cryptic, so having the scream be a black rainbow that crosses it shows how grim and ominous this scream is. I also just think that a black rainbow over the blue night has a very poemic flow to it, and just leaves you with chills after reading it.
Although the text holds a lot of feeling and shows the gloomy, eerie emotion of the piece, I was able to connect to the text more when listening to it set to music. When reading just the poem, I had a hard time understanding the feeling Lorca was trying to express. The tension in the music and the clashing notes shows the intensity of the story. In the “Cancion Del Jinete,” the many crescendos through the high notes really communicates desperation. In the second translation, part of the text is; “Oh, such a long road! Oh, my valiant nag! Oh, the Reaper awaits me before I ever reach Cordoba!” The text combined with the eerie sounding notes is very impressive. Also, the many references to the night and the moon throughout the four parts of the poem emphasizes this darkness. Looking at Lorca's life, this darkness must reflect how he was feeling at the time.
ReplyDeleteIn “El Grito,” the poem sets the setting very well. My favorite line in the poem is the simile, “Like a viola's bow, the cry has made the long strings of the wind vibrate,” It works well with the long crescendo and slide through the screams of “Ay!” However, the “Ay!” sounds more like a wail and less of a scream. The repetition of “Ay!” almost shows insanity.
I have read over the translation of “La Luna Asoma” many times, but I still haven't been able to figure out the significance of the third stanza, “No one eats oranges under the full moon.
Better to eat fruit green and icy.”
I think Lorca used the repetition of death coming and going in the “Malagueña” to show an acceptance of death and to conclude the poem. The simplicity of Lorca stating, “Death enters, and leaves” repeatedly doesn't glorify death or portray it as a terrible thing.
I thought Rautavaara's interpretation of this piece is amazing. Musically, I like how all four parts give the same dark, dreary sound. I think this helps connect the piece as a whole. Rautavaara's use of clashing notes and many crescendos and decrescendos gives me chills, like I can feel the suffering that Lorca was expressing through his poetry.
After reading the translations, I think Rautavaara did a fabulous job with setting these poems, especially "El Grito." The direct contrast found in the poems first two lines - "The elipse of the scream" and "A sigh from hill to hill" is shown perfectly in the Rautavaara's piece - four halfnotes smushed together to low, smooth legato patterns. The dissonance heard throughout the whole piece also creates the mood of looming urgency that hangs over the poems, from the speeding to Cordoba by horseback to escape Death to the violence refered to later in the poems, Rautavaara's music creates the perfect feel.
ReplyDeleteThe creepiness, urgency, and violence found in the poems has so much feeling behind them, but it seems to be lost in translation - knowing enough spanish, you get a sense of how beautiful the words sound strung together - much more so in their native language, as any poem would. While this is unfortunate, you still get the idea of how dramatic and emotional the journey that the poems are meant to take the reader on really is.
I like the poems, specifically much more in Spanish than in English, I feel like the intensity is lost in translation. Lorca absolutely creates an effectively dark atmosphere in each of the poems through his use of blacks and reds. Isolation and loneliness are transmitted through the horseman and the moon archetype. These themes reoccur in almost every poem. They are all dark, lonesome, and seemingly endlessly lost in pursuit of the unattainable.
ReplyDeleteI personally think that the horseman could be Dali, or the poet himself. Cordoba was and still is a very famous location for painters and artists to use as a subject.
Rautavaara builds tension through deep cresendos and sudden changes in volume and strength of sound as well as rhythm and tempo.
In my opinion the meaning of the first stanza is that pain reverberates and affects an entire country if it is strong enough. I am thinking of the Spanish Civil war when i say this, mainly because i think of "The Sun Also Rises" by Hemingway, in which an American is aiding anti communist forces in Spain and they are stationed in the hills where much of the violence took place. Rautavaara effectively set this poem because he translates the fear and the echos of pain and suffering through his musical translation.
La Malaguena again directly reminds me of the Spanish Civil War and Hemingway's imagery.
The use of the word tavern stirs connections to American Civil war struggles, but no very strong ones. All of these songs and poems recreate an isolated, inescapable darkness through words and music.
Ever since the first time we listened to Rautavaaras music, I've thought it was beautiful. In each of his songs, he composes the sound to be in a mournful tone. Listening to his songs leaves me with the feeling of sorrow and truly draws me into the piece that I'm hearing. The poems really illustrate the life that Lorca lived during the war and what his emotions were at the time. Each poem has some relation to death and relates in a way to the war.
ReplyDeleteIn Cancion Del Jinete, I think that the horseman is symbolizing an innocent man who is forcibly going to Cordoba against his own will and being dragged by the horse. Throughout the poem it talks frequently about the horse and its job to deliver the man to Cordoba.
In El Grito, the first stanza says, "The ellipse of a cry sighs from hill to hill." The audience is pulled in to feel the pain that the people back then were feeling. It is trying to emphasize the fact that so many families are losing their loved ones and sadness is felt throughout the whole community.
In Malaguena, it starts with "Death enters, and leaves the tavern" and ends with "Death enters and leaves, and leaves and enters the death of the tavern." It's interesting to see that he opens and closes with basically the same statement. I think he is trying to portray that the quantity of deaths increased every day. In addition, he talks of black horses and repeatedly uses darker shades of color in each of his poems. It brings a dark feeling to the poems both literally and figuratively. Overall, I think that Rautavaaras music is beautiful and I can't wait to share this piece with an audience.
I think that Lorca’s poems are very well written, though a little sad for my taste. Still, I can see why he would write poems like these because from his biography, it appears that he was a rather lonely person (because of his homosexuality) and that he had strong opinions about death. In each poem, Lorca uses specific phrases to convey sadness, loneliness, and a sense of foreboding. In “Song of the Horseman”, he describes Cordoba as being “far off and solitary” and talks about death awaiting him before he reaches his destination. He also talks about a black horse, and black is generally and evil or unlucky color, and a red moon. Red moons can also be called “blood moons” and are supposed to be nights when ghosts or bad spirits are more active than usual. In “The Scream”, he talks about a cry echoing in the hills and uses black again to describe a rainbow. In “The Moon Rises”, he says that “the heart feels itself island in the infinite”, which paints a very lonely picture, and in “Malaguena” he talks about Death entering and leaving again, there is more mention of black horses and also of blood. Overall, the poems are not the most positive that have ever been penned.
ReplyDeleteI think that Rautavaara did a very good job with translating the poems to music, because he used the music to contribute to the tone of the poems. Even people who are not fluent in Spanish will be able to tell that the lyrics aren’t all rainbows and sunshine. In the first movement, he does a good job of portraying the loneliness and foreboding because the two soprano lines really stick out against the relative consistency of the alto lines. Especially with all the solos, it gives this whole thing a very solitary feel. He arranges “El Grito” very nicely as well, with at least four measures featuring jumps that, with all the parts together, actually sound like screams. Throughout the entirety of this movement, there is a lot of dissonance, which adds to the overall creepy and unsettling feeling. He went about arranging the whole piece in a way which really lends itself to the feeling behind the original texts and serves as a good tribute to Lorca and his life.
Lorca’s poems are very eerie and almost frightening to read, or in this case listen to. But they are nevertheless very beautiful, especially when read in Spanish. The way that Lorca strings the words together is striking. I also find it very interesting how he juxtaposes the ordinary and the remarkable. For instance, the line, “luna grande, y aceitunas en mi alforja,”or “the giant moon, and olives in my saddlebag” is very unusual, because I would never think to use the two phrases in the same sentence to describe the setting. But this manner of description makes his words seem at once within reach and distant. It creates a very strange mood that matches the theme of all four poems.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that seems to be common in all four of Lorca’s poems is the motif of darkness, blackness or nighttime, as well as death. Lorca seems to use the four notions as almost interchangeable. Each poem also seems to have some mention of traveling. The first poem is about traveling a path to get to Cordoba. The second poem talks about a cry traveling from hill to hill. The third poem mentions the paths that are revealed. And in the last poem, Lorca writes about Death traveling to and from the taverns, as well as people traveling on the paths of the guitar. I think that this notion of travel is also reflected in Rautavaara’s music. For instance, the beginning of Cancion del Jinete begins with one note intervals, like footsteps along a path.
In El Grito I think that Lorca is trying use the cry as a metaphor for pain. He writes that the cry moves across the hills like a rainbow, and that it makes the wind vibrate. To me, this means that pain is felt everywhere, and it affects everyone. The music which this poem is set to also invokes this idea. The first line of music is so shrill and poignant that it seems to linger even after the music has contin ued. This lingering effect reflects this idea of the pain of one person having an effect on an entire body of people. As for the “cave people” I think that Lorca uses this verse in conjunction with the rest of the poem as a metaphor for pain. It shows the reaction of others when they feel the effects of others’ grief, by showing that there is hope (the oil lamps).
I think that Rautavaara set El Grito very beautifully, if that is the right word. The dissonance of the chords conveys the pain of the poem, and really makes the chords stay with you as the music continues. And the cry is repeated again, showing the rippling of the scream in the poem. I love the melody in the second passage “Desde los olivos,será un arco iris negro sobre la noche azul” because it is so beautiful, but it has those eerie harmonies underneath it. Rautavaara definitely set El Grito very effectively, invoking all aspects of the Lorca’s poem.
-Ambika