Lorca Soundscape Songs #7, and last: Vals En Las Ramas - Waltz in the Branches
I think Lorca wrote this poem as a farewell to new York, it’s in the last section of the Poeta en NY book called “Flight from New York, two waltzes towards civilization”. After listing all the evils of the world, an antidote is necessary.
I loved the waltz rhythm of this poem, that almost feels like a lullaby. Consider it the calm after the storm, a meditation on all of what we’ve gone through till now. The imagery presented in the poem smells like the East Coast fall season, and I can imagine how Lorca was influenced by the time he spent in Vermont. I, then, couldn’t help stealing some of the harmony from “Autumn Leaves” for it. Lyricism is something I definitely pursued here, and I think that touched Claudia Acuña, who told me this was her favorite song of the cycle. Incidentally this the is the piece that I wrote faster (I consider myself a really slow composer, takes me a while to write a piece), just in a couple days, and I wrote it with my electric bass, which I almost never do...
Just yesterday I saw a video of the amazing Spanish singer Silvia Perez Cruz in which she described how once her songs are done and recorded, it feels like they don’t belong to her anymore. That resonates strongly with me. After finishing all these songs I almost feel somebody else wrote them, and they are just their own thing... Onwards to the next project!
Alexis Cuadrado Group: A Lorca Soundscape, “Vals en las ramas”
Keith Jarrett Trio: “Autumn Leaves”
Silvia Perez Cruz