CANTATA D’AMORE

Text for mezzo-soprano

Juan Segundo, 18th Kiss

Cum labra nostræ cerneret puellæ,

Inclusa circo candidæ figuræ,

Vt si quis ornet, arte curiosa,

Corallinis eburna signa baccis,

Fleuisse fertur Cypris, et gemendo

Lasciuientes conuocasse Amores,

Et, quid iuuat, dixisse, purpuratis

Vicisse in Ida Palladem labellis,

Et pronubam magni Iouis sororem,

Sub arbitro pastore, cum Neæra

Hæc antecellat, arbitro poeta?

At uos furentes ite in hunc poetam,

Et dira plenis tela de pharetris

In illius medullulas tenellas,

Pectusque per, iecurque per iocosum,

Distringite acres perstrepente cornu.

At illa nullo pertepescat igne,

Sed tacta pectus plumbea sagitta,

Torpescat imas congelata uenas.

Euenit: imis uror in medullis,

Et torrido iecur liquescit igne:

Tu fulta pectus asperis pruinis

Et caute, quales aut maris Sicani,

Aut Adriæ unda tundit æstuosa,

Secura ludis impotentem amantem.

Ingrata! Proper ista labra rubra

Laudata plector. Heu! misella, nescis

Cur oderis; nec ira quid deorum

Effrena possit, et furor Diones!

Duros remitte, mollicella, fastus;

Istoque dignos ore sume, mores:

Et quæ meorum causa sunt dolorum,

Mellita labris necte labra nostris,

Haurire possis ut mei pussilum

Præcordiis ex intimis ueneni,

Et mutuis lanquere uicta flammis.

At nec deos, nec tu time Dionen:

Formosa diuis imperat puella.

CANTATA D’AMORE

Text for narrator

Freely adapted to the Spanish by Ana Hernández-Sanchiz

Upon seeing the lips of my friend

enveloped by the oval of her white face,

like pearls of coral that a skillful craftsman

sweetly set into her ivory complexion,

it is said that Cypris began to weep

and, among his sobbing, summoned the lustful loves

and said to them:

“What good is it that my purple lips

have conquered there, on Mount Ida,

the goddess Palas and the sister of Jupiter,

the one who blesses weddings,

if the beauty of Neera favours me, in the view of a poet?

Go in anger, take up arms against the poet!

Aim your arrows at his soft bowels

and brutally pierce his chest and heart,

making bows and horns ring out.

As for her, may no fire bring warmth to her

and so, with her white bosom wounded by a lead arrow,

may her blood come to a stop, frozen in her cold veins.”

And so it was... I burn, I am consumed.

My heart melts in a scorching flame.

While you, your breast is protected by ice floes

and reefs like those that beat the waves of the sea of Sicily or the Adriatic,

scornfully mock a lover who can do nothing.

Nothing...Ingrate!

I am suffering my punishment for admiring your red lips.

Oh, wretched one! You don’t even know why you hate me, nor do you know the power of the unstoppable wrath of the gods and the rage of Dione.

Abandon your haughty harshness and your scorn, you, so tenderly,

and adopt an attitude that fits your visage;

And as they have been the cause of my sorrows,

rest your honey lips on my lips

so I can share with you, and you can suffer

a little of the poison of my most intimate feelings

and you can be consumed, conquered, in our mutual flames.

And do not fear the Gods, nor Dione:

Prepare, girl, to tame the gods.

A beautiful young woman tames the gods.

LES CHEMINS DE L'AMOUR

Text for mezzo-soprano

Les chemins qui vont à la mer

ont gardé de notre passage

des fleurs effecuillées et l´échosous les arbres

de nos deux rires clairs

Hélas des jours de bonheur,

radieuses joies envolées,

je vais sans retrouver traces dans mon coeur.

Chemins de mon amor

je vous cherche toujours.

Chemins perdus, vous n´êtes plus

et vos échos sont sourds.

Chemins du désespoir,

chemins du souvenir,

chemins du premier jour,

divins chemins d´amour.

Si je dois l´oublier un jour,

la vie effaçant toute chose,

je veux dans mon couer qu´un souvenirs repose

plus fort que l´autre amor.

Le souvenir du chemin

Où, tremblante et toute éperdue,

un jour j´ai senti sur moi brúler tes mains 

Translated text

The paths that lead to the sea

Have left from our passing

Leafless flowers, and under their trees

The echo of our clear laughter.

Alas! Those days of happiness,

Those radiant joys are gone.

I leave without no trace of them

in my heart.

Paths of my love

I'm still looking for you,

Lost paths, you are no more

And your echoes are silent.

Paths of despair,

Paths of remembrance,

Paths of the first day,

Heavenly paths of love.

If I should ever forget,

Since life obliterates everything,

I wish in my heart one simple memory,

Stronger than the other love.

The memory of the path,

Where, trembling and frantic,

I one day felt your passionate hands on me.