Song
by Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)
When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.
I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.
One thing that unites Cubans across the world is surely a love of music. The island has been the source of generations of sounds that now reverberate around the world. In this collection of prize-winning artists we hear works of five composers whose roots have been nurtured in Caribbean soil and are now spread as far as Spain, UK, and the US.
From an orchestral homage to a virtual opera, the music covers a wide emotional territory. The album opens with Flores Chaviano’s tribute to victims of a 1995 mining accident in Spain; it follows the course of the tragic day in the form of a tone poem that reaches an inexorable cathartic climax.
Ivette Herryman Rodriguez’s solo setting of Christina Rossetti’s poem, “When I am dead, my dearest,” by contrast, finds its power in a more intimate lyrical framework. It is sung by Grammy-nominated soprano Lindsay Kesselman who brings a “Dido’s Lament” intensity to the task.
Odaline de la Martinez has been a mainstay of the London musical world for decades, particularly as a conductor. Her Litanies (1981) performed by ensemble Lontano, recalls distant childhood memories growing up in Cuba, with echoes of church and fishermen shaping the atmospheric writing.
If you’re looking for an animated virtual opera set in a post-USA dystopia, where teenager Libertaria escapes from the GenTech factory & teams up with her addict father to lead a children’s cyborg army against evil reverse-ageing geneticists, then look no further than this one by Sabrina Pena Young. Libertaria Song Cycle presents five highlights from this groundbreaking work that has been presented at TEDx, Opera America, and venues worldwide.
The album concludes with a fantasy for bass clarinet and piano by Eduardo Morales-Caso that brings to life a powerful sonorous landscape; if not explicitly a Cuban one, nevertheless as intense and rooted as the other works on this collection.
All the composers on Sonidos Cubanos 2 (the second in a Latin Grammy-nominated series) are recipients of the prestigious Cintas Foundation Fellowship that recognizes excellence among artists of Cuban descent. The collection is produced by noted composer Orlando Jacinto Garcia.
1. Flores Chaviano
NiFe 13:07
Orquesta de Cámara de Siero, OCAS
Héctor Cuello, bagpipe/gaita
Manuel Paz, director
2. Ivette Herryman Rodríguez
Memorial (Christina Rossetti) 6:50
Lindsay Kesselman, soprano
Oscar Micaelsson, piano
Norbert Lewandowski, cello
3. Odaline de la Martinez
Litanies 14:45
Lontano
Sabrina Peña Young
Libertaria Song Cycle
4. I. Mother Imagined 1:16
5. II. Lonely Mother’s Cry 1:42
6. III. Absolution 3:38
7. IV. Atonement 3:08
8. V. Rebellion 3:02
Libertaria Cast:
Perry R. Cook 6, 8
Gracia Gillund 4, 7, ⁸
Jennifer Hanna8
Matthew Meadows 6, 8
Kate Sikora 4, ⁸
Gretchen Suarez-Pena 8
Yvette Teel 5, 7
9. Eduardo Morales-Caso
Evolving Spheres 7:06
Lorenzo Iosco, bass clarinet
Duncan Gifford, piano
credits
released June 1, 2021
Produced by Orlando Jacinto Garcia
Mastered by Jacob Sudol