Temporal by Diana V. Sáez & Suzzette Ortiz
Temporal is a traditional plena from Puerto Rico. Plena is an Afro-Puerto Rican rhythm that blends melodic and rhythmic elements from Spanish and African musical influences. Diana Sáez captures the essence of the plena in this authentic and accessible choral arrangement and Suzzette Ortiz compliments the music with Afro-Caribbean rhythmic flavors in the piano accompaniment.
“I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Dr. Sáez for over 20 years, observing her teach her beautifully crafted arrangements and compositions to singers of all ages. Dr. Sáez brings her creative voice to her compositional work while still writing in ways that are easily accessible to choral singers of all ability levels. Most of all, she arranges Latin American folk songs with the full context of the source material plainly in view, helping the singers understand the origins and traditions that inform her compositional choices. Vocalists are sure to expand their intercultural understandings through the experience of singing her works.”
Product Details
Recording
Transcription
Spanish
Allá viene, allá viene el temporal
Temporal, temporal
Allá viene el temporal.
Que será de Puerto Rico
Cuando llegue el temporal?
Que será de mi Borinquen*
Cuando llegue el temporal?
Se levanta el pueblo
Al son de los tambores
No nos tumba el viento
Ni diez mil temblores
Somos resilientes,
Somos luchadores
No nos tumba el viento
Ni diez mil temblores.
English
There comes! There comes the storm!
Storm, storm
There comes the storm
What will become of Puerto Rico
When the storm arrives
What will become of my Puerto Rico
When the storm arrives
The people arise
To the rhythm of the drums
The wind cannot bring us down
Nor ten thousand earthquakes
We are resilient
We are warriors
The wind cannot bring us down
Nor ten thousand earthquakes
Composition
Temporal is a traditional plena from Puerto Rico. Plena is an Afro-Puerto Rican rhythm that blends rhythmic and melodic elements from African and Spanish musical influences. Temporal means storm, but it can also refer to the hurricanes that are common in the Caribbean. This arrangement pays tribute to the resilience shown by the people of Puerto Rico after surviving the hurricanes that hit the island in 2017.
This arrangement can be performed without the piano part, but we encouraged the use of percussion. The güiro is used to accentuate the rhythms of the plena and is part of the native inhabitant taíno culture left into the island’s musical heritage.
The conga part substitutes the Plena panderos, the authentic Puerto Rican hand drums created for the plena genre. They consist of a set of three different sized hand drums, each playing its own ostinato rhythmic pattern. The rhythm used for the conga drum is a combination of two of these rhythmic patterns.
Composers
Dr. Diana V. Sáez is the Director of Choral Activities at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland, directing the University Chorale, Treble Voices, and Choral Society. As a leading specialist in the field of Latin American music, Dr. Sáez is a frequent guest conductor, adjudicator, and lecturer in both the United States and abroad.
Dr. Sáez is perhaps best known for serving as artistic director of Cantigas, an award-winning chamber choir that she founded with the mission to increase awareness and appreciation of Latin America and Spanish choral music. For 25 years, Cantigas was a principal performer of Latin American music in North America, with appearances at the ACDA Eastern Division Convention, Kennedy Center, and Strathmore Center, as well as international tours in Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. In 2014, the choir was awarded the Choral Excellence Award for Most Creative Programming by the Choralis Foundation in Washington, D.C.
Suzzette Ortiz is an accomplished pianist, composer, arranger, choral conductor, and music educator. Her work as a music teacher has been well recognized, with countless awards and commendations for empowering inner-city students through choral music. Suzzette retired from full-time teaching after 32 years of service, 27 of those in the City of Camden, New Jersey. Her high school choirs visited places like Italy, Prague, Puerto Rico, Ghana, Poland, Virginia, Tennessee, New York, Louisiana, and Florida. Suzzette continues to serve as an advocate of music education in her community. She is currently the artistic director at Artistas y Músicos Latinoamericanos music school in Philadelphia and the choir director of the Jubilee Singers, an acapella vocal ensemble from St, John Baptist church in Camden, New Jersey. Suzzette holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance with a minor in composition from the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, and a master’s degree in music education from Temple University in Philadelphia.
Publisher
La Voz Music Publishing