#3481: Latin American Poetry Settings

Listen to contemporary settings of great Latin-American poets on this New Sounds. Hear a combination of choir and electric guitar by built around the poetry of Chilean poet Elias Letelier by Canadian composer/electric guitarist Tim Brady.  The work, “Atacama,” is sung in Spanish, with text about metal, circuitry, atoms and not thinking about microphones.  There’s also a work by the American composer Eric Whitacre and his setting of a text by Nobel Prize-winning Mexican poet Octavio Paz.  In it, the vocal group Polyphony together with a children’s choir simulate a storm by rattling tin for thunder and finger-snapping as rain.

Then, listen to poetry of Pablo Neruda set by the Argentine-born, American-based composer Osvaldo Golijov – from his work, “Oceana.”  It’s a setting of a Neruda poem that praises the transcendent power and beauty of the ocean, and features the Brazilian jazz singer Luciana Souza. Plus, listen to some of John Adams' oratorio El Niño with text by Latin-American women poets, including that of Chilean Nobel Prize winning poet, Gabriela Mistral.

PROGRAM # 3481, Settings of Latin-American Poetry   (First aired on 6/18/2013)