This song describes the origin of the first madrigal – or the first love song. The poem (written in Galician), as well as the music, bring references of Ancient Greece in the use of rhythm and modality, in a casual and playful tone. Recorded in 2014
Rimas de Ruben Dario
A song cycle in five songs, based on Rhymes 1, 10, 12, 14, and 3 by Rubén Darío that explores the life of a couple, from their sentiments of longing for finding their beloved (En el libro lujoso), the first short encounter and their memories of each other (En tus ojos, un misterio), to the […]
Tres apuntes
Tres apuntes is a song cycle in three movements, all of them in their own way referring to the qualities of Music. The first song, “Revelación” (Revelation) finds the existence of the Divine within music. The second song, “Vals del atardecer” (Waltz of Dusk) is a playful song at the rhythm of waltz where instruments dance […]
Sursum corda
Sursum corda (Lift Up Your Hearts), scored for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and four percussionists is an ode to optimism, an expression of hope in life. Divided in two sections, the first part features a constant sixteenth-note motion in the percussion over the text sung by the mezzo-soprano. This incessant motion, representing a desire to live is counterbalanced […]
Oda a Covadonga
This short song for tenor and piano evokes the spirit of Covadonga, the birth place of Spain and Asturias as a country. The piece, commissioned by tenor Joaquín Pixán uses texts by Álvaro Sánchez Albornoz from “El Reino de Asturias” (The Kingdom of Asturias). The song is an exaltation of the exhilarating landscape of the […]
Cantos del Emigrante
A song cycle in eight movements, which portrays the life of an immigrant from the first time when he arrives to the new country and his sentiments of nostalgia to his final moments as he leaves the world and remembers the homeland. De Los Caballos (Lorences) Prioritaria Alcordanza Persistente (Lorences) We Have The Blues (Lorences) […]
Cinco canciones Asturianas
Arranged in five movements, this Five Asturian Songs bring to life five traditional Asturian folk songs for piano, cello, and tenor.
Ah vastedad de pinos
This composition for Baritone, Guitar, and Percussion, based on Poem 3 from “Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada” by Pablo Neruda explores love from an introspective view. A virtuosic guitar and the percussion instruments (predominantly marimba) assist the voice in creating a nocturnal atmosphere, the space for the contained feelings expressed in this […]
Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah
Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah is a work that represents a mourning state for Mankind. The text, written in the 6th Century B.C., depicts a time of sorrow and crisis, when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Chaldeans. The poem represents a state of humiliation, loss of national identity, and suffering. At the same time, it also brings […]
AIDS
This work for soprano and piano reflects on the feelings of loneliness, fate, and death, so well expressed in the poem by May Sarton “AIDS,” written in 1988. The poem was a response to the tragedy of the world-wide pandemic of AIDS and its disastrous loss of life and social fracture it has produced since the 1980s. The […]
Shakespeare’s Love
I. Romeo (Infatuation) II. Falstaff (Womanizing) III. Orsino (Passionate, Impetuous) IV. Iago (Jelousy) V. Antony (Eternal Love) This song cycle for tenor and piano celebrates the 450th Anniversary of Shakespeare. The text of this work is based on five soliloquies on diverse aspects of love as portrayed by leading male characters from Shakespeare’s plays. The […]
Estampas
Estampas (Portraits) is a composition for tenor, mixed chorus, and piano based on three poems by the great Asturian poet Ángel González. They present three portraits, three photographs of the feelings of a young man for his beloved. These wonderful texts are bound in one movement without pause between them. The work, articulated in three […]