EVEN DREAMS THEMSELVES
Female Voice (Soprano or Mezzo-soprano), Cello, Piano, and Fixed Media
PROGRAM NOTES
Even Dreams Themselves is based on a text by Spanish poet and playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-81). The text, a monologue from Calderón de la Barca’s 1636 play La Vida es Sueño ("Life is a Dream"), muses about the dreamlike nature of reality, and wonders whether we can prove the reality of existence. I created the English translation of this monologue in partnership with my colleague Victor Báez, and it strives to preserve something of the rhyme, meter, and beauty of the Spanish original. My hope is that the music succeeds in enriching the poetry even further.
Commissioned by Open Scene and the Central Florida Composers Forum. Premiered at Timucua Arts Foundation, Orlando, FL (August 2024).
SCORE PREVIEW
