I have loved this work on recordings for nearly 70 years and never seen it performed. While there were some acoustical problems in hearing the alto solos, to see and hear this was a delight! What nice work on the part of all!!! Thanks.
By the Rio Grande They dance no sarabande On level banks like lawns above the glassy, lolling tide; Nor sing they forlorn madrigals Whose sad note stirs the sleeping gales Till they wake among the trees and shake the boughs, And fright the nightingales; But they dance in the city, down the public squares, On the marble pavers with each colour laid in shares, At the open church doors loud with light within. At the bell's huge tolling, By the river music, gurgling, thin Through the soft Brazilian air. The Comendador and Alguacil are there On horseback, hid with feathers, loud and shrill Blowing orders on their trumpets like a bird's sharp bill Through boughs, like a bitter wind, calling They shine like steady starlight while those other sparks are failing In burnished armour, with their plumes of fire, Tireless while all others tire. The noisy streets are empty and hushed is the town To where, in the square, they dance and the band is playing ; Such a space of silence through the town to the river That the water murmurs loud - Above the band and crowd together; And the strains of the sarabande, More lively than a madrigal, Go hand in hand Like the river and its waterfall As the great Rio Grande rolls down to the sea. Loud is the marimba's note Above these half -salt waves, And louder still the tympanum, The plectrum, and the kettle-drum, Sullen and menacing Do these brazen voices ring. They ride outside, Above the salt-sea's tide. Till the ships at anchor there Hear this enchantment, Of the soft Brazilian air, By those Southern winds wafted, Slow and gentle, Their fierceness tempered By the air that flows between. Sacheverell Sitwell
One wonders why there are not more recordings of this interest and wide-ranging choral piece, with a compendium of styles and rhythms. Somehow one feels Leonard Bernstein could have done it justice, but I don't think he (or many other conductors) ever recorded it. Good performance, but one does wish for better diction. Even following closely with the text I could barely make out what they were singing! It's not only an issue of diction, of course, but of textures and balance: the choir was meant to be HEARD, I mean in terms of DICTION, not merely SOUND.
An interesting work, and the rhythmic character is very exciting. I think I can see (or hear) why it is not often performed. It requires a sizable orchestra and chorus, and most of all, a virtuosic pianist. It makes pretensions to be a choral cantata, and to be a piano concerto, but it doesn’t contain enough substantial music of either to really be worth everyone’s while. Most choruses do not have an accompanist of such brilliant virtuosity (as this pianist surely has). Few virtuosos will want to learn this piece, with all the other, bigger, longer, more famous alternatives in the repertoire. As choral music, it is not so interesting-mostly noisy effect. And the orchestration is extravagant and brassy, but also, mostly effect. Neither chorus nor orchestra have very much to do, except sit through the cadenzas. It might be more successful in a performance f
It might be more successful in a performance for chorus and piano solo, which would sound less opaque- but it still requires an extraordinary pianist. Nonetheless, I was glad to hear the work.
