Escucha (listen) – New choral piece about the earth

To listen to the earth, and all that it is made of is one of my favorite things to do. To look at it, to touch, to smell, to sing to it. It sounds crazy but in recent years I’ve developed this wonder for the clouds and the trees. A true curiosity for water and air, and many more details that I see every day.

Listen with your ears, your eyes, with your whole body

In just a week, you and I will be able to enjoy this new piece that Chorus Austin commissioned for their Song of the Earth Concert (get your tickets here!). It was exciting to write for their symphonic choir for the first time and to imagine their faces as they invite the audience to enjoy more of what is around them.

This piece was so much fun to write. Plain fun and wonder. I wanted it to feel like a child running around. Do you know that 3-years-old that are always fascinated by every little new thing that they see? That is exactly what I wanted. To go back when I was this little kiddo (and in many ways, I still feel I am!) and was crazy excited about every leaf.

I am glad that not much has changed over the years. I’ve just got cuter, right?

Listen to the text, listen to their voices, listen to the instruments

I hope you are not annoyed by how detailed this post is, but that is what this peace is about. I want you to notice the things that are in front of you and challenge you to look at them differently.

I wrote the text for “Escucha,” afraid to not know how to write a poem (even though I have written a lot of my own texts!) but confident that I was being honest and straightforward. This text is not about secrets. The things I mention in it are not hiding, but rather in front of us every day.

Escucha (Listen)

El cielo:
(the sky)
                Las nubes,
                (The clouds)
                El sol.
                (The sun) 
               
Mira el cielo:
(Look at the sky)
                 Las nubes,
                 (The clouds)
                 El sol.
                 (The sun) 
               
Escucha las aves volar,
(Listen to the birds flying)
A través del cielo azul.
(Through the blue sky) 
  
El mar
(The sea)
                Escucha las olas
                (Listen to the waves)
                Romper en la orilla.
                (Crash in the shore) 
  
Agua de río,
(River water)
Agua lago,
(Lake water)
Agua.
(Water) 

Respira
(Breathe)
Las hojas de los árboles,
(The leaves of the trees)
                             Su forma,
                             (Their shape)
                             Su fragilidad.
                             (Their fragility) 
                            
               Ligeras vuelan las hojas en el viento
              (The leaves Lightly flying in the wind) 
               
 Escucha las nubes,
 (Listen to the clouds)
 Toca el cielo,
 (Touch the sky)
 Siente las flores,
 (Feel the flowers)
 Mira el sol.
 (Look at the sun) 

Listen to the clouds, listen to the sun

I love clouds, trees, and rivers. I love birds, waves, leaves, all the leaves! My life is so much better now that I get to enjoy every detail of it. To go out and stroll in University of Houston when I studied there, imagining how the trees played with the clouds. Or more recently finding different leaves and rocks, and comparing them.

Be sure to also check “Forgiveness,” the piece I wrote for Panoramic Voices and that will be premiered this coming Saturday.