Tag: poem

A classic poem takes a new (musical) flight

by Boricua In the Midwest - Jose Clavell, posted in Choral Conducting, Choral Music, gradschool, Masters in Music, Musical Poetry, Poetry/ Literature

A dear friend of mine, who shall remain in anonymity, once showed me e.e. cummings’ i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart). As clichéd as it sounds, I loved it. In the course of this past semester, I enrolled in a composition class. In this class put my big boy pants, and I set this poem to music. It was an uphill battle (choosing the singers, rehearsal time) in short, a battle. I won the battle and the war! Here is the finished product, while not perfect, it is pretty darn close. I hope this a start of a new, complementary chapter in my life.

If you want to commission me for a choral piece, do not hesitate in doing so! Without further ado, i carry your heart with me (i carry it my heart).

Text:

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
                                                      i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
Singers:

Sopranos:

Alison Huntley
Lydia Lewis
Mariah Chapdelaine
Elizabeth Peregrine

Altos:

Carolee Stark
Abiagil Landau
Jessica Moore
Jazmine Hamilton

Tenors:

Tyler Hast
Thomas Heise
Arturo Martinez
Eric Mohlis

Basses:

Johnnie Campbell
Ethan Q. Ivey
Jordan DePatis
Jack Dessent

José Clavell, conductor

antephialtic

by Boricua In the Midwest - Jose Clavell, posted in Poetry/ Literature

Whisper the mantra handed by him
solace  yourself,
center the crooked

Time and time again
listen again
cradle the covers

The voice murmurs
shine on the road
shine on oneself

Whisper the succoring mantra
soothe the skin
lull the voix

Silver, Red, and Gold

by Boricua In the Midwest - Jose Clavell, posted in Musical Poetry, Poetry/ Literature

 

Glide
Fall down, collide
break new ground
smile…

Let it rain
let it fall
engulf the winds
deluge…

 

Aria

by Boricua In the Midwest - Jose Clavell, posted in Music, Musical Poetry, Poetry/ Literature

In the cruel missing  where laughter and tears meet,
sing a song of despair
sing a song of agony
sing the aria of longing…

As the chords traveling to their neighboring keys, lost in the musical sea,
let the strings be your compass, and
guide you through the fog

Let the seasons change
the dust float in the wind
orange drizzling unto the coffee stained earth
grazing emerald fields

Regarding pink transparent clouds
I ponder your absence,
our plights,
the never ending colloquies,
and embraces astray by distance…

In the soul’s longing to be accord,
surround oneself in memories,
grasp the unwritten future
for it shall come anew

Under the transparent clouds
Above the mahogany earth, I shall be
in the drizzling withering orange florets
singing an aria for you.

Gray

by Boricua In the Midwest - Jose Clavell, posted in Musical Poetry, Poetry/ Literature

You are neutral. a hipster of sorts,
you don’t want to be a show off nor invisibleGray Venice
the middle child of color,
gray
Assertive, yet soft
you’re a color without color
a soul without function
grey

Some say you are noble, regal, and firm like stone
others see you as dull, worthless, foggy in the snow.

I ask, my fair color
do you want to blend in?
do you want to stand out?
do you want to fight or
are you thoughtful?

Whether you are friend or foe,
keep being grey
for without you
many are not them
for without you
the world is not the same…

 

Róisín Dubh

by Boricua In the Midwest - Jose Clavell, posted in Musical Poetry, Uncategorized

What sin did you commit to betray your own kind?
What perturbed your soul so deeply, that you scarred your beautiful skin?
Tell me my child, no whisper, who or what did this?

In which shade of the night did your nightmares came true?
Did they feel better? Torturing you until they remained and you fade?
As the blood drips of your shoulder, heart or soul?

What will it take for you to fade away, permanently?
Is there something you can grasp? Something that can save you?
Hold on tight, for the ride is not over…

I dreamt

by Boricua In the Midwest - Jose Clavell, posted in Music, Musical, Musical Poetry, Poetry/ Literature

I dreamt of us smiling without stopping
smiling with no problems
Alone. In peace
I dreamt of us. We were happy.
Away frm here, finally in our home.
I dreamt of you
of you and I
I dreamt and dreamt and I will dream without stopping
for this dream will become reality
I  won’t stop until I can achieve it
because together we’ll beat the odds
and together we shall triumph

I dreamt of the nights
the nights I cried for you
because you weren’t here
because you weren’t there
because distance is a bitch,
a bastard who robs us of our sleep
our peace
our calm
and with only a kiss…
a kiss, is all I need

I dreamt of you
alone, in the darkness
with the past, trying to escape
screaming,
crying
calling out for me…
and here I was
asking, begging
willing to sell my soul to the highest bidder
just so that I could be there & comfort you
so that I could be there & cover you
heal what ails you or
transfer it all to me
so that you can finally heal

And so, I dreamt
of your caress
I dreamt of how perfect you are
even though you say the opposite

I dreamt of you
I dreamt of me
of how perfect we are for each other
even though we fight
even though we know we’re not perfect
but in that imperfect-cy we are one
for I looked for you, and you to me
and finally,
we are together

I dreamt of us
of our future
even though it’s far away, time goes quickly luv
and we’ll finally have what we want:
A house.
Our company.
Our love.

I dreamt of us
of us, smiling without stopping
with problems, but fighting together
in peace

I dreamt of you, and we were happy
away from here
finally, in our home…

Traduction from “Soñé”
-mp

Écoutez

by Boricua In the Midwest - Jose Clavell, posted in Poetry/ Literature, Uncategorized

Hark!

Listen to the sound of my soul
washing over
trickling down
the rocky road

Concentrate!
Pay attention!
Can’t you listen the sound?
A soul spiraling out of control?

Ça commence!
It’s begun!
Let me pour you down
so you can get closer…

Entendre!
pour mon petit cœur (to my little heart)
il bat pour vous (it beats for you)
dans la brume de la pluie  (in (the) mist of the rain)

Dance for me

by Boricua In the Midwest - Jose Clavell, posted in Musical Poetry, Poetry/ Literature

Third Installment in the “Murmure dans le vent” series. This poem shall expose the second movement in Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings” in C Major. For previous posts in this series you can go here part une & deux

Continue reading “Dance for me” →

Compose

by Boricua In the Midwest - Jose Clavell, posted in Musical Poetry, Poetry/ Literature

Image

I write
with tears
with pain
with sorrow
forlornly

I record
ecstatically
melodramatically
lovingly
sentimentally
exuberantly
inamorato
your skin

I compile
your mouth
your pearls,
and diamonds
-as they fall-
broaching them softly….

I pencil
the future
the past
the sighs
your sight
our love
your lips
my embrace
your semblance

I compose
in you
in me
in us

-musicalpoetry 2013