The Gypsy Ballads

Song Cycle by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968)

View original-language texts alone: Romancero Gitano

1. Baladilla de los tres ríos
 (Sung text)
Language: Spanish (Español) 
El río Guadalquivir
va entre naranjos y olivos.
Los dos ríos de Granada
bajan de la nieve al trigo.

¡Ay, amor
que se fue y no vino!

El río Guadalquivir
tiene las barbas granates.
Los dos ríos de Granada
uno llanto y otro sangre.

¡Ay, amor
que se fue por el aire!

Para los barcos de vela,
Sevilla tiene un camino;
por el agua de Granada
sólo reman los suspiros.

¡Ay, amor
que se fue y no vino!

Guadalquivir, alta torre
y viento en los naranjales.
Dauro y Genil, torrecillas
muertas sobre los estanques.

¡Ay, amor
que se fue por el aire!

¡Quién dirá que el agua lleva
un fuego fatuo de gritos!

¡Ay, amor
que se fue y no vino!

Lleva azahar, lleva olivas,
Andalucía, a tus mares.

¡Ay, amor
que se fue por el aire!

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Confirmed with Federico García Lorca, Die Gedichte: Spanisch-Deutsch, ausgewählt und übertragen von Enrique Beck, Band 1, Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2008, pages 66 and 68.


by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936)
1. Song of the Three Rivers
Language: English 
The river Guadalquivir
flows between oranges and olives.
The two rivers of Granada
descend from the white snows to the wheat fields.

Ah, love that left, 
never to return!
 
The Guadalquivir
has a beard of garnet.
The two rivers of Granada,
one of tears and one of blood.

Ah, love that flew, 
into thin air!
 
For boats under sail,
Seville has a channel;
In the waters of Granada,
only sighs remain.

Ah, love that left, 
never to return!
 
Guadalquivir, high tower
and wind in the orange groves.
Dauro and Genil,
lifeless cairns above the ponds.

Ah, love that flew, 
into thin air!
 
Who can say how the waters carry a
vain fire of cries!

Ah, love that left, 
never to return!
 
Carry orange blossoms, carry olives,
Andalucia, down to the sea.

Ah love that flew, 
into thin air!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2010 by Richard Gard, (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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This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 32
Word count: 138

Translation © by Richard Gard
2. La guitarra
 (Sung text)
Language: Spanish (Español) 
Empieza el llanto
de la guitarra.
Se rompen las copas
de la madrugada.
Empieza el llanto
de la guitarra.
Es inútil callarla.
Es imposible
callarla.
Llora monótona
como llora el agua,
como llora el viento
sobre la nevada.
Es imposible
callarla.
Llora por cosas
lejanas.
Arena del Sur caliente
que pide camelias blancas.
Llora flecha sin blanco,
la tarde sin mañana,
y el primer pájaro muerto
sobre la rama.
¡Oh, guitarra!
Corazón malherido
por cinco espadas.

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by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936)
2. The guitar
Language: English 
The weeping
of the guitar begins.
The cups of dawn
are broken.
The weeping
of the guitar begins.
It is useless to silence it.
It is impossible
to silence it.
It cries, monotonously,
as the waters cry,
as the wind cries
over the snowfall.
It is impossible
to silence it.
It weeps for things
far away.
It asks the Sands of the South
for white camellias.
It cries for the arrow without a target,
for the afternoon without a morning,
and for the first bird who dies
on the branch.
Oh, guitar!
Heart wounded
by five swords.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2010 by Richard Gard, (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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This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 26
Word count: 97

Translation © by Richard Gard
3. Puñal
 (Sung text)
Language: Spanish (Español) 
El puñal
entra en el corazón,
como la reja del arado
en el yermo.

No.
No me lo claves.
No.

El puñal,
como un rayo de sol,
incendia las terribles
hondonadas.

No.
No me lo claves.
No.

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by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936)
3. Dagger
Language: English 
The dagger
pierces the heart
like the blade of the plow
in dry mud.
 
No.
Do not stab me.
No.
 
The dagger,
like a ray of sun,
burns the desolate
ravines.
 
No.
Do not stab me.
No.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2010 by Richard Gard, (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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This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 37

Translation © by Richard Gard
4. Procesión
 (Sung text)
Language: Spanish (Español) 
I. Procesión
 Por la calleja vienen
 extraños unicornios.
 ¿De qué campo,
 de qué bosque mitológico?
 Más cerca,
 ya parecen astrónomos.
 Fantásticos Merlines
 y el Ecce Homo,
 Durandarte encantado.
 Orlando furioso.

II. Paso
 Virgen con miriñaque,
 virgen de la Soledad,
 abierta como un inmenso
 tulipán.
 En tu barco de luces
 vas
 por la alta marea
 de la ciudad,
 entre saetas turbias
 y estrellas de cristal.
 Virgen con miriñaque
 tú vas
 por el río de la calle,
 ¡hasta el mar!

III. Saeta
 Cristo moreno
 pasa
 de lirio de Judea
 a clavel de España.

 ¡Miradlo, por dónde viene!

 De España.
 Cielo limpio y oscuro,
 tierra tostada,
 y cauces donde corre
 muy lenta el agua.
 Cristo moreno,
 con las guedejas quemadas,
 los pómulos salientes
 y las pupilas blancas.

 ¡Miradlo, por dónde va!

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by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936)
4. Holy Week procession
Language: English 
1. Procession
 Down the road come
 strange unicorns.
 From what fields,
 what mythological woods?
 Circling closer
 They look like astronomers.
 Ghostly Merlins
 and the condemned Christ,
 Enchanted Durandarte,
 Orlando Furioso.
 
2. Paso (large platform carrying a statue used in holy processions)
 Virgin with glittering crinoline skirts,
 virgin of solitude,
 Opening like an immense
 tulip.
 In your boat of lights
 you sail
 with the high tide
 of the city,
 among gypsy songs
 and crystal stars.
 Virgin with glittering crinoline skirts,
 you float
 on the river of the street -
 to the sea!
 
3. Saeta (gypsy processional song for Holy Week)
 The swarthy Christ
 transforms
 from the lily of Judea
 to the carnation of Spain.

 Look where he's coming from!

 From Spain,
 the sky, clean and dark,
 the earth scorched,
 and ditches where
 water runs very slowly.
 Swarthy Christ,
 his locks of hair burned,
 his cheekbones protruding
 and his pupils white.

 Look where he's going!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2010 by Richard Gard, (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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This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 42
Word count: 152

Translation © by Richard Gard
5. Memento
 (Sung text)
Language: Spanish (Español) 
Cuando yo me muera,
enterradme con mi guitarra
bajo la arena.

Cuando yo me muera,
entre los naranjos
y la hierbabuena.

Cuando yo me muera,
enterradme si queréis
en una veleta.

¡Cuando yo me muera!

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by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936)
5. Mememto
Language: English 
When I die,
bury me with my guitar
under the sand.
 
When I die,
between the orange trees
and the peppermint.
 
When I die,
bury me, as you wish,
on a weather vane.
 
When I die!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2010 by Richard Gard, (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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This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 10
Word count: 36

Translation © by Richard Gard
6. Baile
 (Sung text)
Language: Spanish (Español) 
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!

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by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936)
6. Dance
Language: English 
Carmen is dancing
in the streets of Seville.
Her hair is white
and her pupils sparkle.
 
Girls, close the curtains!
 
Around her head is entwined
a yellow snake.
And she is dreaming, dancing
with gentlemen from the past.
 
Girls, close the curtains!
 
The streets are deserted
and in the shadows are gleamed
Andalucian hearts
Unearthing old sorrows.
 
Girls, close the curtains!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2010 by Richard Gard, (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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This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 15
Word count: 61

Translation © by Richard Gard
7. Crótalo
 (Sung text)
Language: Spanish (Español) 
Crótalo.
Crótalo.
Crótalo.
Escarabajo sonoro.

En la araña
de la mano
rizas el aire
cálido,
y te ahogas en tu trino
de palo.

Crótalo.
Crótalo.
Crótalo.
Escarabajo sonoro.

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by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936)
7. Castanet
Language: English 
Castanet.
Castanet.
Castanet.
Raucous black beetle.
 
In the spider legs
of a hand
you curl the hot
air
and drown in your trill
of wood.
 
Castanet.
Castanet.
Castanet.
Raucous black beetle.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2010 by Richard Gard, (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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This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 31

Translation © by Richard Gard