Using words for basis of thematic material

A little while back I made comments about using language as a basis for coming up with melodies.

It can be a wonderful way - IMO - to come up with melodic material.

I thought I would offer another example. A little while back I was commissioned be the Peabody Conservatory, in Baltimore, to write a new work based on a poem by Fredrico Garcia Lorca. The number one thing that intimidated me, along with the fact the the audience would all be composers, was having to set Spanish text. I don't speak the language.

When you don't speak a language, the smallest mistakes can lead to big misunderstandings. In some cases it's worse to be 90% right than 0. Take this translation for example.

In order to get the emphasis of the words correctly I search and found a recording from the 1940's of the poem. It's not Lorca reading it, but still a native spanish speaker.

First you will hear the first 2-3 sentences of the poem. Then, like in 90's techno, I will simply loop it, and then slow it down. I am sure you will start to hear a certain melodic quality to the voice.



I transcribed this reading, and used it as the basis for my composition. The Sibelius rendering is attached below. ( I can't post the concert version for contract reasons. It has been performed a few times.)

 

That was the requirement.

Yes. On the top stave - the one that says S (for Soprano) - you will see the text. It's the poem, verbatim.