Iam rara micant sidera – Cantata (Piano reduction)

Composed by commission of Europalia 1985, to be premiered in Brussels in November of the same year by 14 choirs who came from across Spain, under the baton of Oriol Martorell, through whom the commission came, and who also suggested the text of Seneca.

The descriptive Latin text of Seneca speaks of the simple life and it is dedicated to rural people doing a day’s work. There are very varied scenes of mountains and of fishing, with a message of hope in the work and the crops.

The cantata is a little symphonic poem of about 13 minutes without interruption. The stories of the choir and the tenor soloist are connected by instrumental interludes where the brass and the percussion participate actively to colour the  atmosphere of each situation.