Muero Porque No Muero

Muero Porque No Muero was written for the Gregg Smith Singers on the occasion of their fortieth anniversary. The text is by St. Teresa d'Avila. Her meditations and poetry are rife with ambiguous language at once sacred and profane creating a unique sensuality. Consider the sexual implications of the phrase I die because I do not die bearing in mind the medieval double meaning of the phrase to die. The principal theme of the music is presented in fragments emerging over stark harmonies. As the texture grows thicker with Spanish-influenced flourishes and polytonal accompaniment the full melodic episode rises only to subside once again into the complaint: Muero porque no muero.