Lynn Gumert
Composing a Life through Creativity
Florencia del Pinar is the first known Spanish woman poet. Little is known about her life, but some of her poems are published with the honorific “Dama,” (“Lady”), which suggests that she was from the upper class. I found this poem particularly compelling because of the image of the captive bird with which she identifies, knowing that historically women’s lives were very restricted. Another level of meaning in the poem is that the particular bird referred to is the partridge, which during this time period was an archetype of female sexuality because female partridges were known to be easily impregnated. This adds another layer of meaning to the poem’s imagery of captivity, or suppression.
The piece has two themes; the first one is a long-breathed, wide-ranging, and often melismatic melody that suggests flight. The second theme is strongly rhythmic and highly dissonant, and expresses the sorrow of which she speaks. The rhythm used in the second theme is characteristic of Latin American music. Many of the scales and melodic gestures draw from a typical Sephardic scale that includes a minor second-augmented second.
Instrumentation: SSAT, Soprano Recorder, Marimba, Percussion, Treble & Bass Viol
D’estas aves su nación
Es cantar con alegría,
Y de vellas en prisión
Siento yo grave pasión,
Sin sentir nadie la mía.
Ellas lloran que se vieron
Sin timor de ser cativas,
Y a quien eran más esquivas
Esos mismos las prendieron.
Sus nombres mi vida son
Que va perdiendo alegría.
Y de vellas en prisión
Siento yo grave pasión,
Sin sentir nadie la mía.
About these birds: their nature
Is to sing with happiness.
And to see them in prison,
I feel great sorrow,
Without anyone feeling my sorrow
They weep, that they flew
Without fear of being captives,
And those of whom they were most shy
Are the very ones that captured them.
Their names are my life,
As I go losing happiness.
And to see them in prison,
I feel great sorrow,
Without anyone feeling my sorrow.