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Soneto LXXXII
About the Piece
I initially composed this piece over the summer of 2013 with the intent of it being performed by the University of Northern Colorado’s chamber choir, the choir in which I met my wife, the subject of this piece. I was planning to conduct the performance and propose to my now wife, Amy, at that concert, as she had already graduated and would be in the audience. The piece, however, did not make it on the final program. I managed to quickly arrange something else and ask her right after the concert anyway, and a year later, we were married. Eventually, in 2017, after revision and support from Ethan Sperry at Portland State University, the piece assumed its current form and was premiered by the Portland State Chamber Choir in May 2018.
This beautiful text from Pablo Neruda’s 100 Love Sonnets comes from the last 25 poems of the book, a section entitled noche, or night. These poems are mostly Pablo Neruda’s statements on how true love transcends all things, even death; that same sentiment is expressed in this poem. I tried to give the beautiful text accordingly beautiful music filled with the eternal love I have for my wife, alive in this music forever.
Instrumentation
SATB A Cappella w. Divisi, SA Soli, Baritone Solo
Text
“Soneto LXXXII”
By: Pablo Neruda(1959)*
Amor mío, al cerrar esta puerta nocturna
te pido, amor, un viaje por oscuro recinto:
cierra tus sueños, entra con tu cielo en mis ojos,
extiéndete en mi sangre como en un ancho río.
Adiós, adiós, cruel claridad
adiós a cada rayo de reloj o naranja,
salud o sombra, intermitente compañera!
En esta nave o agua o muerte o nueva vida,
una vez más unidos, dormidos, resurrectos,
somos el matrimonio de la noche en la sangre.
No sé quién vive o muere, quién reposa o despierta,
pero es tu corazón el que reparte
En mi pecho los dones de la aurora
English Translation:
Translated: Stephen Tapscott. Reinterpreted by Patrick Rooney
As we close this door to the night, my love,
I ask that you journey with me through the dark enclosures:
Shut out your dreams, enter your heaven through my eyes
Spread out in my blood as if in a wide river.
Goodbye, goodbye cruel daylight,
Welcome, O Shadow, my temporary companion.
In this ship, or water, or death, or new life,
Once again, we are united, asleep, resurrected
We are the marriage of the night in blood
I know not who lives or dies, who rests or wakes,
But it is your heart that delivers to my chest,
the graces of the dawn.
Copyright permission for the use of text obtained through SCD (Sociedad Cultural del Derecho). Santiago, Chile. 01/2014.
Composition Year
Original Version: 2013
Revised Version: 2018
Duration
ca. 5 mins 30 seconds