Mata del Anima Sola

(“Tree of the Lonely Soul”)

Antonio Estévez (1916-1988)

[Sung in Spanish]

[English translation:]

Tree of the lonely soul,

wide opening of the riverside—

now you will be able to say:

Here slept Cantaclaro.

With the whistle and the sting

of the twisting wind,

the dappled and violet dusk

quietly entered the corral.

The night, tired mare,

shakes her mane and black tail

above the riverside;

and, in its silence,

your ghostly heart is filled with awe.

“Mata del Anima Sola” was performed by soloist Frankie Espinoza and the Houston Chamber Choir at their 2013-2014 season’s “Todos Unidos - Todos Cantamos: Music of the Americas with María Guinand.”