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La Carmen está bailando por las calles de Sevilla. Tiene blancos los cabellos y brillantes las pupilas. ¡Niñas, corred las cortinas! En su cabeza se enrosca una serpiente amarilla, y va soñando en el baile con galanes de otros días. ¡Niñas, corred las cortinas! Las calles están desiertas y en los fondos se adivinan, corazones andaluces buscando viejas espinas. ¡Niñas, corred las cortinas!
Text Authorship:
- by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936), "Baile", appears in Poema del Cante Jondo, in Tres ciudades, no. 3, first published 1921 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Julián Bautista (1901 - 1961), "Baile" [ voice and piano ], from Tres cuidades, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Baile", from Romancero Gitano, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Enrique Beck (1904 - 1974) , copyright © 1953 ; composed by Günter Bialas, Hermann Reutter.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Enrique Beck (1904 - 1974) , "Tanz", appears in Drei Städte, no. 3, copyright © ; composed by Hermann Reutter.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Richard Gard) , "Dance", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Dance", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Danse", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ivo Zandhuis
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-11
Line count: 15
Word count: 63
Carmen is dancing through the streets of Seville. She has fair hair and shining pupils. Girls, draw the curtains! On her head is coiled a yellow snake, and in her dreams she dances with suitors from former days. Girls, draw the curtains! The streets are deserted and in their depths can be glimpsed Andalusian hearts seeking out old thorns. Girls, draw the curtains!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2020 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in Spanish (Español) by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936), "Baile", appears in Poema del Cante Jondo, in Tres ciudades, no. 3, first published 1921
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-13
Line count: 15
Word count: 63