Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895–1968; b. Italy; d. USA) was an Italian composer. He was regarded as one of the foremost guitar composers of the twentieth century.

Posted below is his musical setting of the Spanish poet Juan Ramón Jiménez’s book in the form of a prose poem Platero y yo (Platero and I). The book is a simple, semi-autobiographical account about a poet and his donkey. It evokes the region of Andalusia in Spain and the town of Moguer, the author’s birthplace.

The musical setting by Castelnuovo-Tedesco was originally published in 1960 as “Platero y yo, per voce recitante e chitarra.” In other words, it was intended to be performed by guitar player with a narrator speaking the text. It is performed here on guitar without narration.

It consists of ten sections:

1 – Platero

2 – Golondrinas (Swallows)

3 – Angelus

4 – Retorno (Return)

5 – El Pozo (The Well)

6 – La Primavera (Spring)

7 – El Canario Vuela (The Canary Flies)

8 – La Arrulladora (Lullaby)

9 – Melancolia (Melancholy)

10 – A Platero en el cielo de Moguer (To Platero in the heaven of Moguer’s heaven)

— posted by Roger W. Smith

    May 2017