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From the liner notes: The time has come for the world to recognize the talent of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, a poet who ranks with Keats and Shelley and Byron. The Spanish-speaking community, the English-speaking community should know the glory and the grandeur of this great Spanish poet. It is hoped that this record will close the circle of American poetic choreography. In all of Spain, in all its history, there isn’t a greater poet than Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. There isn’t in all of Spain, in all of the XIXth Century, a greater poet than Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. He rises late when the fury and the anger of romanticism were already spent. Bécquer brings to the world of poetry a new tone, a new sound. Bécquer does not scream, Bécquer does not throw a tantrum. He plays a minor key on the keyboard of Spanish poetry. The voice of Bécquer is soft and gentle. He cries and he pleads in disciplined accents of reason, couched in such simple language that they reach the ears of the uninitiated as well as the learned. History and literary criticism have determined that Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer is the major poet of the XIXth Century in Spain, and that he is the first of our modern poets. Listen, my friends, to the voice of Spain, listen to the voice of the human race, listen to the voice of man as he sings or laments the triumph or the disaster of human love. All Spanish-speaking young people from here and there, from then and now, know Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer by memory, because all young people are lovers, and being lovers , they are romantic. Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, romantic poet of all the centuries! The guitar of Moisés Rodriguez brings to us echoes of the most ancient Spain and the most modern America. Spanish guitar, American guitar. Everyone knows that Moisés Rodriguez is one of the outstanding guitarists in the world. Listen, and you shall hear the capability of one artist to understand and feel the artistic capability of another artist. It was time that Bécquer found a musician worthy of him! Moisés has achieved the total fusion of verse and music. The poetry and the music are one and the same. The Spanish readings are by Eliseo Casillas. Eliseo captures the subtlety of the Spaniard but adds just a hint of the flair of Spanish-speaking America. Those who know Spanish will appreciate the quality of voice and emphasis. Those of you who are learning the language should listen well. You will seldom hear the language spoken with such clarity and controlled emotion. Translation is impossible. The translation of poetry is beyond the pale. It takes a poet to interpret poetry and thereby transmit it into another language. John Aragón is a poet who has had the sensitivity to vibrate to Bécquer’s poetry and to transmit these vibrations into probably the best and most sensitive rendition of Bécquer’s poetry in English. I challenge you poets, hybrid poets, linguists-come up with better translations!
Sabine R. Ulibarrí, Ph.D. Chairman, Department of Modern and Classical Languages The University of New Mexico
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All material is copyright and all rights reserved John A. Aragon. Send mail to
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