033/036-Songs to the livestock keeper (Show)

Poet.

  • Work
    • 033/036
  • Name
    • Songs to the livestock keeper (Show)
  • City and date
    • Besalú, January 1991
  • Duration
    • 15'
  • Instrumentation
    • piano, violin and voice
  • Parts
    • 1) Sou um guardador de rebanhos 2) Última estrela a desaparecer antes do dia 3) Hoje de manhà saí muito cedo 4) Se eu pudesse trincar a terra toda
  • Texts
    • Fernando Pessoa
  • Text language
    • Portuguese
  • Cd
    • 25 years making music (2013)
    • Water Nymphs-The show (2013)
  • Premiere (Sou um guardador de rebanhos)
    • Girona, Municipal Theater February 10, 2013 Violin: Eszter Schütz Piano: Anna Cassú Soprano: Imma Presas
  • Premiere (Se eu pudesse trincar a terra toda)
    • Girona, Municipal Theater February 10, 2013 Violin: Eszter Schütz Piano: Anna Cassú Soprano: Maite Mer
  • Premiere (Ultima estrela a desaparecer antes de dia)
    • Besalú, Church of Sant Julià (Municipal Theater) July 12, 1992 Violin: Pau Carrera Piano: Paco Viciana

Lyrical show about poems from the book "The livestock keeper" by the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, although in this work he used the heteronym of Alberto Caeiro.

The origin of this work was conditioned by three challenges: the first one, to present it in a composition competition held in the city of Valencia, if I remember correctly, the second one, the self-imposed challenge of generating a work in in which the melodic line was created without any instrumental help, a melodic line generated uniquely and exclusively by what my musical mind was creating, and the third one challenge and not least, to use some of the poems that I had fallen in love with at that time of the great Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa.

And so it was. Once I finished the melodic part of each section of the work, I continued in the creation of the piano accompaniment and then added the violin, and thus I progressed in the creation of the whole proposal.

I submitted the finished work to a competition, but it didn't get support. Then I realized that the real prize had been creating it and having learned so much along the way as a composer.

Now I just hope that both the effort and the joy I invested in making it, will be used for everyone who listens to it or who wants to interpret it, as it happens with the rest of my creative catalog.

The original work from 1991 was created for baritone, violin and piano. Later, in 2012 a version for soprano, violin and piano was born thanks to the interest in my work by the soprano Maite Mer (Water Nymphs (the show)), and finally in 2024 I created a new revised version of the entire work where I corrected some errors and simplified and cleaned up the violin part, which is the sheet music version you can view and purchase below.

Maite Mer in her interpretation of a part of the work
 

Three of the four parts that make up the work have been released separately in the show Water Nimphs (the show) by Maite Mer like a conductor and soprano.

Songs to the livestock keeper (parts):

  1. Sou um guardador de rebanhos
  2. Última estrela a desaparecer antes do dia
  3. Hoje de manhà saí muito cedo
  4. Se eu pudesse trincar a terra toda
 

-Songs to the livestock keeper (Live mix):

  
  • Voice: Imma Presas/Maite Mer
  • Violin: Eszter Schütz
  • Piano: Anna Cassú
  • Oboe: Almudena Jambrina
  • Flute: Esteve Zulet
  • Piano: Paco Viciana
Concert at the Municipal Theater of Girona on February 10, 2013
and Concert at the Church of l'Assumpció de Segur of Calafell on August 25, 2002 (show Journeying)
 

Score in pdf (baritone, violina and piano version in a new 2024 revised version - Full Score and parts - 70 pages) 15€:


 

 

Imma Presas in her interpretation of a part of the work