Elegies for the Deaths of Three Spanish Poets

A lament for Antonio Machado, Miguel Hernandez, Federico Garcia Lorca and for so many artists who have suffered and died for what they have written and said.

Each elegy is based on a specific poem. The first is by the 15th century Spanish poet Jorge Manrique. It describes both the circumstances and the spirit of Antonio Machado's death and speaks for all those who, like him, have been forced into exile to die there. The second elegy, "Prison," is written for Miguel Hernandez and inspired by a poem with the same title which he himself wrote in the most appalling circumstances shortly before his death. The last elegy was written for Federico Garcia Lorca, a gentle poet with a passionate love of life who was murdered in cold blood by his enemies in Granada.
Cristóbal Halffter