fbpx
eesti keeles

Works

Como cierva sedienta

1998 / 2002

Scored for

soprano or female choir and orchestra

Duration

30 min

© Universal Edition AG, Wien

Short description

Como cierva sedienta (initially titled Como anhela la cierva) for soprano and orchestra was commissioned by the 15th Festival de Musica de Canarias. The world premieres of the composition took place at the festival in February 1999 on Tenerife and Gran Canaria, performed by Patricia Rozario with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Okko Kamu. The composer made some changes for the Estonian premiere in March 1999 in Tartu and Tallinn, and the revised version was performed by Patricia Rozario and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste. In 2002, Pärt also created a version for female choir and orchestra.

The singularity of Patricia Rozarios’s voice – an English soprano of Indian origin – inspired Pärt in the composition of this wo…

Como cierva sedienta (initially titled Como anhela la cierva) for soprano and orchestra was commissioned by the 15th Festival de Musica de Canarias. The world premieres of the composition took place at the festival in February 1999 on Tenerife and Gran Canaria, performed by Patricia Rozario with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Okko Kamu. The composer made some changes for the Estonian premiere in March 1999 in Tartu and Tallinn, and the revised version was performed by Patricia Rozario and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste. In 2002, Pärt also created a version for female choir and orchestra.

The singularity of Patricia Rozarios’s voice – an English soprano of Indian origin – inspired Pärt in the composition of this work. Considering the audience of the country where it was premiered, Pärt uses the Spanish version of a psalm text. The idiosyncratic inflections of Spanish are reflected in music. The composer divides the text into five larger parts, but each of the 12 verses of the entire text seems to form a smaller unit of its own. The large orchestra never forces itself on the yearning prayer of a psalm text that is full of self-doubt and anguish, just as the solo vocal part with its tense, but subdued expressiveness never dominates the orchestra.

Arvo Pärt:

„As the hart panteth after the water brooks, 
so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. 

"My soul" in David’s Psalm is the soul of us all, our path through life – a path filled with suffering and drama, a path between consolation and ultimate despair, a path that may even lead to a battle with God, yet a path filled with longing for Him.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
and why art thou disquieted in me?
hope thou in God:
for I shall yet praise him 
for the help of his countenance, and my God. 

Again and again David returns to this verse in his Psalm. A verse that runs through the composition like a road to maturity, only at the end, in one last repetition, and enfolded in lamentation and hope, finally leading to reconciliation.”

The work is dedicated to Arvo Pärt’s wife Nora Pärt, whose Christian name is Caecilia.

Show more Show less

Helena Olsson (soprano), Swedish Radio Choir, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tõnu Kaljuste (conductor). CD Orient Occident. ECM New Series 1795

© ECM Records

World premiere

03.02.1999
Teatro Guimerá, Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Spain

Final concert of the 15th Canary Islands Music Festival

Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra , Patricia Rozario (soprano), Okko Kamu (conductor)

Other titles

Original title „Como anhela la cierva" (1999); in 2002 the work was recorded under the title "Como cierva sedienta"

Completion year

1998

Revision year

2002

Dedication

to Caecilia

Commissioned by

15th Canary Islands Music Festival 1999

Scored for

soprano or female choir and orchestra

Duration

30 min

Publishers

Universal Edition

Language

Spanish

Vocal text

Psalm 42-43 (41–42)

Como la cierva sedienta en busca de un río, así, Dios mío, te busco a ti.
Tengo sed de Dios, del Dios de la vida. ¿Cuándo volveré a presentarme ante Dios?
Día y noche, mis lágrimas son mi alimento, mientras a todas horas me preguntan: “¿Dónde está tu Dios?”
Cuando pienso en estas cosas, doy rienda suelta a mi dolor. Recuerdo cuando yo iba con la gente, conduciéndola al templo de Dios entre gritos de alegría y gratitud. ¡Qué gran fiesta entonces!
¿Por qué voy a desanimarme? ¿Por qué voy a estar preocu¬pado? Mi esperanza he puesto en Dios, a quien todavía seguiré alabando. ¡Él es mi Dios y salvador!
Me siento muy desanimado. Por eso pienso tanto en ti des¬de la región del río Jordán, desde los montes Hermón y Mizar.
Se oye en los barrancos profundos el eco atronador de tus cas¬cadas. Los torrentes de agua que tú mandas han pasado sobre mí.
De día el Señor me envía su amor, y de noche no cesa mi can…
Psalm 42-43 (41–42)

Como la cierva sedienta en busca de un río, así, Dios mío, te busco a ti.
Tengo sed de Dios, del Dios de la vida. ¿Cuándo volveré a presentarme ante Dios?
Día y noche, mis lágrimas son mi alimento, mientras a todas horas me preguntan: “¿Dónde está tu Dios?”
Cuando pienso en estas cosas, doy rienda suelta a mi dolor. Recuerdo cuando yo iba con la gente, conduciéndola al templo de Dios entre gritos de alegría y gratitud. ¡Qué gran fiesta entonces!
¿Por qué voy a desanimarme? ¿Por qué voy a estar preocu¬pado? Mi esperanza he puesto en Dios, a quien todavía seguiré alabando. ¡Él es mi Dios y salvador!
Me siento muy desanimado. Por eso pienso tanto en ti des¬de la región del río Jordán, desde los montes Hermón y Mizar.
Se oye en los barrancos profundos el eco atronador de tus cas¬cadas. Los torrentes de agua que tú mandas han pasado sobre mí.
De día el Señor me envía su amor, y de noche no cesa mi canto ni mi oración al Dios de mi vida.
Le digo a Dios, mi defensor. “¿Por qué me has olvidado? ¿Por qué tengo que andar triste y oprimido por mis enemigos?”
Hasta los huesos me duelen por las ofensas de mis enemigos, que a todas horas me preguntan: “¿Dónde está tu Dios?”
¿Por qué voy a desanimarme? ¿Por qué voy a estar preocu¬pado? Mi esperanza he puesto en Dios, a quien todavía seguiré alabando. ¡Él es mi Dios y salvador!
Oh Dios, hazme justicia; ¡Ponte de mi parte contra esta gente pagana! ¡Ponme a salvo del mentiroso y del malvado,
porque tú eres mi Dios y protector! ¿Por qué me has alejado de ti? ¿Por qué tengo que andar triste y oprimido por mis enemigos?


As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, “Where is thy God?”
When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.
Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
I will say unto God my rock, “Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, “Where is thy God?”
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
Show more Show less
Join our newsletter