El niño busca su voz
Language: Spanish (Español)
Our translations: ENG FRE
Chosen for Diff
El niño busca su voz.
(La tenía el rey de los grillos.)
En una gota de agua
buscaba su voz el niño.
No la quiero para hablar;
me haré con ella un anillo
que llevará mi silencio
en su dedo pequeñito.
En una gota de agua
buscaba su voz el niño.
(La voz cautiva, a lo lejos,
se ponía un traje de grillo.)
G. Crumb sets stanzas 1-2
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by George Crumb (1929 - 2022), no title, 1970, stanzas 1-2 [ soprano, boy soprano, oboe, mandolin, harp, electric piano, and percussion ], from Ancient Voices of Children, no. 1, New York : Peters [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Agustín Fernández (b. 1958), "El niño mudo", 1976 [ low voice and piano ], from El anillo, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frederic Mompou i Dencausse (1893 - 1987), "El niño mudo " [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by William Stanley Merwin (b. 1927) , copyright © ; composed by Alvin Brehm.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Félix Gattegno (flourished c1941-1946) ; composed by Francis Poulenc.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "L'enfant muet", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 63
The child looks for his voice
Language: English after the Spanish (Español)
Chosen for Diff
The child looks for his voice.
(The king of crickets has it.)
In a drop of water
the child searched for his voice.
I do not want him to speak.
I should make a ring
that my silence will carry
to his littlest finger.
In a drop of water
the child searched for his voice.
(The captive voice, far from there,
puts on a cricket suit.)
Available sung text translations: ← What is this?
• G. Crumb About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "El niño mudo" = "The dumb child"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2018 by Laura Stanfield Prichard, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2018-04-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 66
