Mulher

Vejo uma pequena chama, mas muito brilhante, no horizonte dentro do meu coração de vidro coberto de gelo. Vejo uma mulher de cabelo selvagem que ilumina a minha noite, os seus pés beijam a terra com cada passo, o seu vestido transparente é o companheiro dos ventos, ela chama-me com os seus olhos de fogo e com sua voz de madeira curtida pelas ondas e lágrimas. A lua faz brilhar a sua pele, e o seu peito de frutos maduros oferece vida e descanso, protecção e coragem, prazer e inspiração. Suas mãos tocam-me suavemente, atravessam o meu corpo para chegar à minha alma. Quando lá chegam, aromas de flores e de mar salgado intoxicam-me até me fazerem cantar e dançar, cantar e amar.

Woman

I see a small flame, but very bright, in the horizon inside my heart of ice covered glass. I see a woman with wild hair that lights my night, her feet kiss the earth at each step, her transparent dress is company to the winds, she calls me with her fiery eyes and her wooden voice cured by the waves and the tears. The moon shines on her skin, her breasts made of ripe fruits offer life and rest, protection and courage, pleasure and inspiration. Her hands touch me softly, they penetrate my body to reach my soul. When they arrive, the aroma of flowers and the salty sea intoxicate me and make me sing and dance, sing and love.

(translation to english by the composer)

(Unpublished. With permission from the author to reprint and set to music.)

Child Soprano Elvira de Paiva

I was born in the city of Coimbra and grew up in Lousã, 30km from the city. From an early age I was fascinated by the Coimbra, its history, its legends, its myths and places. The great love story of Pedro and Inês, associated with the legend of the Fountain of Tears, is the first theme I decided to treat musically. It al began far from the shores of the Mondego River, on the other side of the Atlantic, at Duke University Library. There I found a book that served as my road map for the journey: Inês de Castro, Um Tema Português na Europa, by Maria Leonor Machado de Sousa, Edições 70. With this book I was introduced to the Trouas by Garcia de Resende, Castro by António Ferreira, I re-read Os Lusiadas, Canto III, by Camões, and I descovered a latin poem, De Agnetis Caede, by André de Resende. In this poem, André de Resende creates many of the elements and images that António Ferreira and Camões would later imitate, in their works on the same theme, “as was acceptable and common practice at the time”, according to Maria Leonor de Sousa.

I chose the poem by André de Resende, in latin, as the text for a lament on the death of Inês, which I titled
Fontis Amorum, from the last line of the poem. From the 24 stanzas of the poem I chose numbers 3, 21 and 24, whose main element is water in the form of the river, the fountain and tears.

Stanza number 3 evokes the fields on the shores of the Mondego River and the memory of Pedro. Stanza 21 speaks of the green fields, the rivers and valleys crying over the death of Inês. Stanza 24, the last stanza of the poem, describes the transformation of the tears, wept for Inês' companions, into a natural spring which they named ‘Fontis amorum’, the fountain of love.

Sung in Latin
De Agnetis Caede, by André de Resende (1498-1573)

Pulchra iucundis fruebare, Virgo,                      Beautiful Virgin, you were enjoying the
Fructibus Mondae recreantis agros,                 sweet fruits of the Mondego, as it revived the fields,
Edocens flores resonare clarum                       teaching the flowers to re-echo
Nomen Amantis.                                                    the name of your lover.

Antra plorarunt viridesque luci,                         The caverns and green groves bewailed her,
Et piis fatum lacrimis acerbum                          and the valleys wept with tender tears,
Flere convalles sonituque rauco                       over her harsh fate; with raucous sound
Flumina flerunt. the rivers wept.

Virginis mortem sociae gementes                    The virgin’s friends, mourning her unjust death,
Impiam tristes lacrimis in undam                      to their tears that had turned into
Candidam versis, posuere nomen                    a fair spring, gave the name
‘Fontis amorum’.                                                   ‘Fountain of Love’.

eu sou is an aria for soprano and string orchestra. It was initially a movement from a larger work tormenta e harmonia, for chamber ensemble, commissioned by the Companhia Nacional de Bailado for the Estúdio Coreográfico. I later orchestrated it for string orchestra as a companion work to my other scores for soprano and string orchestra.

Eu sou

by Alexandra Montano

Eu sou, sou mulher,
sou mulher e sou divina
Sou criatura de sonho e poesia
Quando as minhas coxas se movem
a terra inteira estremece
Eu sou, sou laranja do Sol
e turquesa da água
De pernas fortes para bailar
para carregar minhas filhas por onde seja and
Sou para ti tua noite fresca
e sou dona das estrelas
Sou para ti tua égua selvagem
e sou rainha de todas as brisas
Eu sou mulher e sou divina
Sou criatura de calor e terra
Sou criatura de sonho e poesia
Sou criatura de amor e vida
Eu sou, sou mulher,
sou mulher e sou divina
Sou criatura de tormenta e harmonia

(English translation)

I am, I am a woman,
I am a woman and I am divine
I am a creature of dream and poetry
When my hips move
the whole earth shakes
I am orange from the Sun
and turquoise from the water
With strong legs for dancing
to carry my daughters everywhere
I am for you your cool evening
I am the ruler of the stars
I am for you your wild mare
I am the queen of all breezes
I am a woman and I am divine
I am a creature of heat and hearth
I am a creature of dream and poetry
I am a creature of love and life
I am, I am a woman,
I am a woman and I am divine
I am a creature of torment and harmony

(Unpublished. With permission from the author to reprint and set to music. Originally written in Spanish, translated into Portuguese and English by the author and the composer) 

Três melodias (3 melodies) is exactly that: 3 melodies, in 3 movements. The common point between them is the canonic treatments of the melody, distributed through the different instruments. The movements are: I - canto; II - dança; III - fado