Regálame esta noche (Give me tonight), by Roberto Cantoral, is an arrangement for three-part choir and piano of my favorite bolero, and is the ArteSonia gift in this first issue of LifeInMusic.
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Something I really enjoy is arranging music I love, to understand its guts, their process, their crossword puzzle so to speak, then taking them down parallel paths, from which I learn so much. I especially like working on choral arrangements, and in this issue I give you a three-part chorus and piano I composed some years ago for the Fulbright Chorus. Download the scores from these links:
I founded the Fulbright Chorus in 2014 with the support of the Fulbright Association and the Fulbright Commission in Spain, to host scholarship recipients who came from the United States to spend an academic year in Madrid. It lasted six years, and gave me a lot of joy, and brought me a whole treasury of lovely people into my life. Unfortunately, the chorus ceased its activities due to Covid-19, like so many other musical groups.
Regálame esta noche, by Mexican composer Roberto Cantoral (1935-2010), has heartbreakingly romantic lyrics:
No quiero que te vayas,
la noche está muy fría,
abrígame en tus brazos
hasta que vuelva el día…
Tu almohada esta impaciente
de acariciar tu cara,
tal vez te dé un consejo,
tal vez no diga nada.
Mañana muy temprano
platicarás conmigo
y si estás decidida
a abandonar el nido…
Entonces será en vano
tratar de retenerte,
regálame esta noche,
retrásame la muerte.
I don’t want you to leave,
the night is very cold,
hold me in your arms
until the day returns…
Your pillow is impatient
to caress your face,
maybe it will give you advice,
maybe it won’t say a thing.
Tomorrow very early
you’ll talk to me
and if you are determined
to leave the nest…
Then it’ll be in vain
trying to keep you,
give me tonight,
delay my death.
This video is from the last concert the chorus performed in January 2020, conducted by Venezuelan Alicia Rivero and with me at the piano. It took place in what was our home since the formation of the group: the auditorium of the American International Institute in Madrid.
Training videos that could be useful to you:
Tutte
Soprano voice
Mezzo voice
Alto voice
I hope you enjoy it, and please keep me posted if you work on it with your own choruses!
