Sopran (Songs for Júlia)

This composition began to take shape eight years ago, following the reading of an anthology of ancient Chinese poems. Some of them, quite suggestive, awakened in me the desire to set them in music, especially because of the way nature generated intense emotion when contemplated and, at the same time, prolonged a state of mind.

All of this coincided, at the same time, with the commitment my elder daughter made: to study singing professionally. I decided then that, if the opportunity arose, I would venture to compose a cycle for female voice and orchestra, to offer it as a gift.

The three short songs that make up the work immerse themselves in a tranquil lyricism, full of delicate colors, sonorous and emotional resonances, in which timbral and harmonic ambiguities are always welcome.

The work has been commissioned by the Orquestra simfònica de Barcelona i nacional de Catalunya on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of L’Auditori.

It has been premiered by soprano Anna Devin with OBC conducted by Ludovic Morlot on March 2024 in Barcelona.

LYRICS

I. A bloom is not a bloom, by Bai Juyi (772-846)

A bloom is not a bloom,

Mist is not mist.

Coming at midnight,

Leaving again at dawn.

Coming like a spring dream -for how long?

Leaving like a morning cloud -with no trace.

Hu? f?i hu? / Wù f?i wù / Yè bàn lái / Ti?n míng qù / Lái rú ch?n mèng j? du? shí / Qù sì zh?o yún wú mì chù 

II. Night snow, by Bai Juyi 

Surprised to find my quilt and pillow so cold.

I turn my head to the window: light! -glimmering, shimmering.

Deep in the night, the snow silently covers the land,

sometimes, I hear a sharp sound: the bamboo cracks.

Yè Xue / Yi yà qin zhen leng / Fù jiàn chu?ng hu míng / Yè sh?n zhi xue zhòng / Shí wén zhé zhú sh?ng

III. Autumn air, by Li Bai (701-762)

Air, in Autumn, is clear,

Moon, in Autumn, is bright.

Fallen leaves gather and scatter, 

The jackdaw perches and suddenly flies

We think of each other- when shall we meet? 

At this time, tonight, my passion takes me.

Qi? f?ng qing / Qi? yuè míng / Luò yè yù hái sàn / Hán y? qi fù jing / Xi?ng si xi?ng jiàn zhi hé rì / C? shí c? yè nán wéi qíng

English version by the composer, based on Chinese poems by Li Bai and Bai Juyi.