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About the Composer
Timothy C. Takach
Timothy C. Takach Publications
I Am From Here
A bi-lingual exploration of language, home, and identity.
2-part treble, piano
This bi-lingual song looks at identity and home as two sides of the same coin. Mexican poet Manuel Iris explores his relationship to the language he speaks and the one in which he dreams, and as a Mexican living in the US he defines his home as being undefinable. Points of imitation and unison lines make this an accessible sing for younger voices, and the key changes throughout create a nice sense of pacing.
Composer’s Notes
One thing I love about working with poetry is how much reveals itself over time to me as I’m reading the words over and over, thinking about how they relate to each other. Manuel Iris’ poem “Soy de aqui” was a little elusive to me at first, but then I realized how elegantly he describes the feeling of not quite being able to name his home. It seems such a valuable discovery that by the end of the poem, he writes a verse and declares the verse as his home – “I am from here:” I am from my words, my craft. I certainly feel that way about music. I’ve always known music and music has always known me. I am at home whether I’m singing, playing, composing, or just listening.
When I write, I find myself writing in modes that suggest other keys than the one in which I’m writing. This can lead to a common problem where I’ve tonicized a chord that is not my home key and I have to find a way back. This piece was no exception, but the first time it happened during my process I hesitated, realizing that since I was writing about not being able to easily declare a home it made perfect sense to allow myself to modulate. So a piece that starts in E major quickly suggests A major in m. 11, comes back to E major but then modulates to D major in m. 15. From there we move to G major but end in F major. So a piece in two languages and 4 keys ends up feeling completely at home because we are from the music and the music is us.
– Timothy C. Takach, 2021
Text
One is from the places
that he has arrived,
Uno es de los sitios
a los que ha llegado,
from the language
in which he can’t dream
and one day it happens
and he wakes up wondering
which one is now his house
when there is always a heart
elsewhere.
One comes from the streets
that never are the same when he returns.
One comes from the moment
in which he decided to leave
Proviene del momento
en el que decidio partir
and from that other one
in which he realizes
that everything departs.
That it is impossible to stay, even if you stay.
That it is impossible, even if you come back, to be back.
I write a verse
that is a farewell
and I point at it:
I am from here.
Soy de aqui.
– “I am from here” by Manuel Iris, © 2018 Artepoética Press.
Used with permission.
$2.15 per licensed PDF
