Terra sagrada,
Terra solitária

for SATB chorus, string quartet, and piano (2023)

Duration: 16 minutes

Text: Portuguese

Movements:

1. Oliveiras, oliveiras
2. Vou-me embora, vou partir
3. Os guardas bateram
4. Alentejo, Alentejo!

Program Note:

With Terra sagrada, Terra solitária, composer Steven Sérpa engages directly with his Portuguese heritage. This suite is built on songs from the Alentejo region of southern Portugal, in the communal singing style known as Cante Alentejo. The songs share emotions experienced by many Portuguese emigrant/immigrant families: the desire to see the world or find a better life, the heartache for loved ones who have left or been left behind, nostalgia for the villages and experiences of earlier times, and a sacred esteem for the land that gave them life.

The opening song, Oliveiras, oliveiras, evokes the olive groves and the orchards of the Alentejo, honoring rural life and the dignity of those who work the land. The pastoral imagery—olive trees appearing like lacework in the distance—suggests both beauty and endurance, but the song also contains advice: the people in your life are more important than the work.

Vou-me embora, vou partir turns toward Portugal’s coast and its long history of ocean departures. Set in two contrasting moods, melancholy sections surrounding a propulsive and hopeful central section, this song movement captures the tension between longing to explore the wider world and the uncertainty of returning home. The lyrics speak of hope and ambition but also the ache of goodbye; goodbye to homeland, to family, and to love.

In contrast, Os guardas bateram offers a light, humorous glimpse of rural village life. This is a tavern song recounting a small crime spree involving stolen chickens and the ensuing investigation led by the local guards. The song revels in silly storytelling and communal laughter, reminding us of the joy and irreverence in our life.

The suite concludes with a patriotic hymn of thanks, Alentejo, Alentejo. The land is addressed directly as both benefactor and creditor: the land gives life-sustaining wheat and bread, the people repay that gift in labor and in death, returning to the earth. The hymn affirms the reciprocal relationship between people and place, acknowledging the Alentejo as the sacred landscape that shapes its people.

Premiere:

Panoramic Voices, Juli Orlandini, dir.
with Invoke and Benjie Dia, piano

The Hall at Jester King, Austin, Texas
October 21, 2023

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