
Soneto XVII
Choir: SATB div. a cappella
Duration: 6-7 minutes
Language: Spanish
Excerpt of text:
No te amo como si fueras rosa de sal,
topacio o flecha de claveles que propagan el fuego:
te amo como se aman ciertas cosas oscuras,
secretamente, entre la sombra y el alma.
-Pablo Neruda
I do not love you as though you were salt-rose,
topaz, or carnation arrows that spread fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and soul.
-Translation by Varshini Narayanan
In the seventeenth sonnet of his Cien Sonetos de Amor, Pablo Neruda writes of an intimate love that transforms the two individuals into one existence. Soneto XVII is a nuanced and layered setting of the eponymous love poem with lush stasis interspersed with driven motion. "Tan cerca que se cierran tus ojos con mi sueño": we are "so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep"
Written for VocalEssence ReMix, USA, 2017-2018
Soneto XVII, performed by VocalEssence, 2018. Directed by Philip Brunelle. Minnesota, USA