version for mezzo-soprano, flute, and string quintet (2019)
version for mezzo-soprano, flute, and piano (2019)
Duration ca. 8'
mezzo, fl, vn2, va, vc, cb
or
mezzo, fl, pno
Text by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
Text
Villancico VI (excerpts*)
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
Español
Estribillo
¡Víctor, víctor Catarina,
que con su ciencia divina
los sabios ha convencido,
y victoriosa ha salido
--con su ciencia soberana--
de la arrogancia profana
que a convencerla ha venido!
¡Víctor, víctor, víctor!
Coplas
De una Mujer se convencen
todos los Sabios de Egipto,
para prueba de que el sexo
no es escencia en lo entendido.
¡Víctor, víctor!
No se avergüenzan los Sabios
de mirarse convencidos;
porque saben, como Sabios,
que su saber es finito.
¡Víctor, víctor!
Estudia, arguye y enseña,
y es de la Iglesia servicio,
que no la quiere ignorante
El que racional la hizo.
¡Víctor, víctor!
Nunca de varón ilustre
Triunfo igual habemos visto;
y es que quiso Dios en ella
honrar el sexo femíneo.
¡Víctor, víctor!
Perdióse (¡oh dolor!) la forma
de sus doctors silogismos:
pero, los que no con tinta,
Dejó con su sangre escritos.
¡Víctor, víctor!
Tutelar sacra Patrona,
es de las Letras Asilo;
Porque siempre ilustre Sabios,
quien Santos de Sabios hizo.
¡Víctor, víctor!
*These are the excerpts that were set in Gilbert Galindo’s ¡Víctor, Catarina! (2019) for mezzo soprano, flute, and strings
Program Note
In "¡Víctor, Catarina!" (2019), Gilbert Galindo sets to music Villancico VI by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a 17th century Hieronymite nun of New Spain (Mexico), unabashedly combining Spanish Renaissance flare with Mexican-Baroque and contemporary classical grittiness in a pseudo-Mariachi fashion.
A villancico is a form of Spanish song with origins in the Renaissance which developed from earlier dance forms. They were melodically simple and direct songs with rhythmic vitality. Later, villancicos became sacred songs in Latin America and Spain that turned into modern day Spanish carols. What sets the villancico apart from other literary and song forms is that it begins with the refrain, or estribillo, which then alternates with each verse or copla. Another distinct feature is that in the musical setting of the coplas, part of the melody from the estribillo is used. Gilbert created his own rendition of a villancico using the basis of these structural elements, though adding a contrasting melodic and textural section in the middle.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s Villancico VI is most definitely a religious poem, and one that celebrates feminism in the face of a dominating patriarchy. In it, she praises St. Catherine of Alexandria as a bold person who stood up for her Christian faith while facing the possibility of torture and execution, and through it she converted the learned men of Egypt, but was eventually martyred. Sor Juana is of a similar spirit. She too was bold and determined, insisting that she have the freedom to study and express herself through words, calling out hypocrisy and misogyny in the Church and in society. Church authorities eventually mandated that she forfeit her library, a sort of martyrdom of the intellect. Both these women are an inspiration and a testament that the goodness of the human spirit will breakthrough, especially within people who are righteous and courageous.
- Gilbert Galindo
World Premiere: Friday, May 17, 2019
Queens New Music Festival
The Secret Theatre
Long Island City, New York
Laura Virella, mezzo-soprano
Lish Lindsey, flute
Laura Jean Goldberg, violin
Adrianne Munden-Dixon, violin
Liuh-Wen Ting, viola
Melody Giron, cello
Hilliard Greene, contrabass
Gilbert Galindo, conductor
Performances
November 10, 2019
State of Emergency
A Benefit Concert for Environmental Advocates of New York
Red Room @ KGB Bar
New York, New York
Laura Virella, mezzo-soprano
Lish Lindsay, flute
Sunny Knable, piano
(version for mezzo, flute, and piano premiere)