Composition Details
- Composed by: Sid Robinovitch
- Published by: earthsongs
- Cat No: ES.S-220
- Canadian Work:
Yes
- Duration: 4:30
-
Sample Tracks:
Recorded by Elektra
Performed in Concert
In Collections
Program Notes:
The evocative words of Uruguayan poet and feminist Juana de Ibarbourou (1892-1979, also known as Juana de America) create a scene of great sensuality inside a bedroom and outside, where the rain is tapping with “little fingers” on the windowpane. The original music is by Canadian Sid Robinovitch, the first movement of a suite called Canciones por las Americas, premiered by the National Youth Choir of Canada in 2000.
Conductor Notes:
SSAA and piano. Originally written for SATB and piano as one movement of “Canciones por las Americas” by Canadian composer Robinovitch. A smooth and subtle Latin feel for this very intimate poem.
Text:
Espera, no te duermas.
Quedate atento a lo que dice el viento
Yo a lo que dice el agua que golpea
Con sus dedos menudos en los vidrios.
Todo mi corazon se vuelve oidos
Para escuchar a la hechizada hermana,
Que ha dormido en el cielo,
Que ha visto el sol,
Y baja ahora, elastica y alegre.
Escuchemos el ritmo de la lluvia.
Apoya entre mis senos
Tu frente taciturna.
Yo sentire el latir de tus dos sienes,
Palpitantes y tibias.
Como estara de alegre el trigo ondeante!
Con que avidez se exponjara la hierba!
Cuantos diamantes colgaran ahora
Del ramaje profundo de los pinos!
Espera, no te duermas. Esta noche
Somos los dos un mundo,
Aislado por el viento y por la lluvia
Entre las cuencas tibias de una alcoba.
Translation:
Wait, do not sleep.
Listen to what the wind is saying
And to what the water says tapping
With little fingers upon the window panes.
My heart is listening
To hear the enchanted sister
Who has slept in the sky,
Who has seen the sun,
And now comes down, buoyant and gay.
Let us listen to the rhythm of the rain.
Cradle between my breasts
Your silent forehead
I will feel the beating of your temples,
Throbbing and warm.
How gay the waving wheat will be!
How eagerly the grass will thrive!
What diamonds will cluster now
In the deep branches of the pines!
Wait, do not sleep. Tonight
The two of us are a world,
Isolated by wind and rain
In the warmth of a bedroom.