El mar (The Sea) for SATB chorus and piano 4-Part - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.953624

Tango-inspired choral work in Spanish

El mar (The Sea) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP) for SATB chorus and piano

Program note: Commissioned by Inversion Ensemble for its Aether: Water project in May 2020, El mar (The Sea) for mixed chorus and piano captures the angst and tragedy expressed in Alfonsina Storni’s poem "Frente al mar (By the Sea)". A touch of tango rhythm adds to the tension of unfulfilled hopes and the compelling seduction of the sea.

Text: Frente al mar (By the Sea) (1919) (verses 6-9) by Alfonsina Storni (1892-1938)

Mar, yo soñaba ser como tú eres, [Sea, I used to dream to be like you,]
Allá en las tardes que la vida mía [Back in the day, my life]
Bajo las horas cálidas se abría... [would blossom in the warmth of my youth]
Ah, yo soñaba ser como tú eres. [Ah, I used to dream to be like you.]

Mírame aquí, pequeña, miserable, [Look at me here, little, miserable,]
Todo dolor me vence, todo sueño; [Defeated by pain, exhaustion]
Mar, dame, dame el inefable empeño [Sea, give me, give me the ineffable determination]
De tornarme soberbia, inalcanzable. [To become magnificent, untouchable.]

Dame tu sal, tu yodo, tu fiereza. [Give me your salt, your iodine, your fierceness.]
¡Aire de mar!... ¡Oh, tempestad! ¡Oh enojo! [Sea air!… Oh, tempest! Oh anger!]
Desdichada de mí, soy un abrojo, [Miserable me, I'm thorny weeds,]
Y muero, mar, sucumbo en mi pobreza. [And I die, sea, succumbing in my poverty.]

Y el alma mía es como el mar, es eso, [And my soul is like the sea, is that sea,]
Ah, la ciudad la pudre y la equivoca; [Ah, the city rots and confounds my soul]
Pequeña vida que dolor provoca, [Insignificant life that causes itself sorrow,]
¡Que pueda libertarme de su peso! [May [the sea] free me from [my sorrow’s] burden!]

 Adrienne Inglis http://adrienneinglis.com​.