mezzo-soprano Alexandra Montano
alto sax José Massarrão
cello Miguel Ivo Cruz
accordion Pedro Miguel
piano Afonso Malão

Tormenta e Harmonia is subtitled “overture, dances and aria” and was written for the choreographer Hillel Kogan

Sung in Portuguese
Poem by Alexandra Montano

Eu sou

Eu sou mulher e sou divina
Sou criatura de sonho e poesia
Quando as minhas coxas se movem
A terra inteira estremece.
Eu sou laranja do Sol
E turquesa da água
De pernas fortes para bailar
Para carregar minhas filhas por onde seja.
Sou para ti 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 mulher e sou divina
Sou criatura de tormenta e harmonia.

(English translation)
I am

I am a woman and I am divine
I am a creature of dream and poetry
When my hips move
The whole earth trembles.
I am orange from the sun
And turquoise from the water
With strong legs for dancing
And to carry my daughters wherever.
I am for you your cool evening
I am 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 a woman and I am divine
I am a creature of torment and harmony.

A fascinating and skillful musical mix where various references are crossed (baroque dances, traditional Portuguese music, fado, jazz...) in a subtle and humorous manner. The last section, where the wonderful voice of Alexandra Montano introduces a dream like atmosphere, appears displaced in relation to the character of the previous sections, but, musically, it is a beautiful moment...

Público - Lisbon, May 2, 1999

Live performance at Expo 98, Lisbon, Portugal

mezzo-soprano Alexandra Montano
alto sax Rui Gabriel
percussion Elizabeth Davis
piano Afonso Malão
cello Miguel Ivo Cruz
bass Luís Sousa

Oda al Mar is a group of five songs, with instrumental interludes, based on texts by Pablo Neruda (Odes to the earth, air, fire and sea). It was written for the Fred Darsow Dance Company.

Oda al la tierra (excerpt)

Arida Tierra, mano
sin signos en la palma,
a ti te canto,
aquí no diste trinos
ni te nutrió la rosa
...
a ti te canto
porque el hombre
te hará parir, te llenará de frutos,
...
estrella negra,
a ti te canto.
...
Tierra, me gustas
en la arcilla y la arena,
te levanto y te formo,
como tú me formaste,
y ruedas de mis dedos
voy a volver a tu matriz extensa.
Tierra, de pronto
me parece tocarte
en todos tus contornos
de medalla porosa,
...
y en tu forma paseo
mis manos
hallando la cadera de la que amo,
los pequeñitos senos,
el viento como un grano
de suave y tibia avena
y a ti me abrazo, Tierra,
...
(el agua brota,
el fuego hierve,
el viento lleva)
...
y a ti me abrazo, Tierra,
la tierra entierra rosas.
Tierra de los desiertos,
línea pura,
A ti las escrituras de mi canto
porque pareces muerta
y te despierta
el ramagazo de la dinamita,
y en un penacho de humo sangriento
anuncia el parto
y saltan los metales hacia el cielo.
A ti me abrazo,
Tierra,
...
(el agua busca,
el fuego canta,
el viento lleva,)
...
A ti me abrazo,
Tierra,
junto a ti, duermo,
en tu cintura se atan mis brazos y mis labios,
duermo contigo y siembro mis más profundos besos.

Oda al aire (excerpt)
Andando en un camino 
encontré al aire, 
lo saludé y le dije 
con respeto: 
“Me alegro 
de que por una vez 
dejes tu transparencia, 
así hablaremos”. 

Él incansable, 
bailó.
...
Yo le besé su capa 
de rey del cielo,
...
y le dije: 
monarca o camarada, 
hilo, corola o ave, 
no sé quien eres,
pero 
una cosa te pido, 
no te vendas. 

...
Él incansable, 
bailó.
movió las hojas.
...
No, aire, 
no te vendas, 
que no te canalicen, 

que no te entuben, que no te encajen,
...que no te metan en una botella, 
cuidado!
llámame 
cuando me necesites, 
yo soy el poeta hijo 
de pobres,
...hermano de todos.

Oda al fuego (excerpt)
Descabellado fuego,
Enérgico,
Ciego y lleno de ojos,
Deslenguado,
Tardío, repentino,

Estrella de oro,
Ladrón de leña,
Callado bandolero,
Cocedor de cebollas,
Célebre pícaro de las chispitas,
Perro rabioso de un millón de dientes,
Óyeme,
Centro de los hogares,
Rosal incorruptible,
Destructor de las vidas,
Celeste padre del pan y del horno,
Progenitor ilustre
De ruedas y herraduras,
Polen de los metales,
Fundador del acero,
Óyeme fuego.
Arde tu nombre,
Da gusto
Decir fuego,
Es mejor
Que decir piedra
O harina.
Las palabras son muertas
Junto a tu rayo amarillo,
Junto a tu cola roja,
Junto a tus crines de luz amaranto,
Son frías las palabras.
Se dice fuego,
Fuego, fuego, fuego,
Y se enciende
Algo en la boca:
Es tu fruta que quema,
Es tu laurel que arde.

Oda al mar (excerpt)
Aquí en la isla
el mar, el mar,
y cuánto mar
se sale de sí mismo
a cada rato,
dice que sí, dice que sí,
que no, que no, que no, que no,
dice que si, en azul,
en espuma, en galope,
dice que sí, que no.
No puede estarse quieto,
me llamo mar, repite
me llamo mar, mar,
pegando en una piedra
sin lograr convencerla,
pegando en una piedra
sin lograr convencerla,
sin lograr convencerla,
entonces
con siete lenguas verdes
de siete perros verdes,
de siete tigres verdes,
con siete lenguas verdes,
de siete tigres verdes,
con siete lenguas verdes,
de siete mares verdes,
la recorre, la besa,
la humedece
y se golpea el pecho
repitiendo su nombre.

Quatro Elementos (excerpt from Oda al la fertilidad de la tierra)
La tierra entierra rosas
el viento lleva
el fuego hierve y canta
el agua brota y busca

Oda al Mar can be heard as a cantata for mezzo-soprano and instrumental group, combining stravinskian influences with aspects of the minimalist idiom, marked by it’s rhythmic liveliness and a discourse which mixes the classical-popular coordinates, creating a stimulating no man’s land. In this well crafted work, there are real finds in the instrumental writing and the discourse is at times irresistible.

Público - Lisbon, September 2, 1998

violin Hsiao-mei Ku
cello Fred Raimi
piano Jane Hawkins 

When I was introduced to Claude Monet's cycle of large water lily paintings, les nymphéas, I had the idea of writing a series of works "based" on the structures of some of those paintings. This work is the first in that series and relates to a specific triptych completed by Monet in 1923.

Seattle Performance Group

Three poems of the sea by George Sarandáris (1907-41)

Prelude
We are always reading the waves.
And time takes us
And leaves us on other seas
And brings us to other seas.
The dance within the dance
Everyone becomes a child.
I
O dove of the soul may you fare well
Go now with the etesian wind
And kiss for me whatever pearls you meet
If you cannot see me do not fear I shall keep holiday with you
On our voyage we shall raise the waters from the sea
To bless whatever we have loved
And whatever we no longer forget
The dove moored in the garden
My soul moored in then garden
Well. I remember now the summer of my life
As though you were earth's only springtime
I confront you o day of my birth
II
The lucky sea waves to us
As though the birds above it were guiding it
As though they were taking it into their arms
The ether is a straight road
Everyone walks within his shadow
Or within his sleep
Whoever takes the sea into his arms
Seems not to suffer from weight
Seems not ashamed of going with the wind
Seems as though he holds all the earth in his glance
As though he sings in the night
And behold night becomes a mother to him
That he may sing in the sun
And love a woman
Who seems an infant to him
That he may sing in the wind
And thus keep on losing and winning his voice
III
The sea shatters into numberless crystals
We scoop them up and mounted on air go voyaging
We scatter them wherever we see women lamenting
As though deprived of their children
Then the seas are created again
And an unsurpassable innocence discerns them
Then men fly higher in the sky
To take in all they can of light from far away
While women dressed in black eternally narrate
The birth of the seas

Three poems of the sea was translated from the Greek by Kimon Friar, "Modern Greek Poetry", Simon and Schuster, 1973, New York.

Three poems of the sea’ by Eugénio Rodrigues,…revealed a young man who can infuse rapturous, unabashedly post-romantic music with something all his own.
… luminous, hot and heavy, minimal, wide-rangingly linear – and the audience registered its hearty approval.

News-Times – Danbury, CT October 16,1989