Javier Busto’s commissioned work has a title
“Soñé que tú me llevabas” is the new work Javier Busto has written for the 60th International Choir Competition. A title like the beginning of a dream, from a composer whose choir has known Spittal for a long time.
The title
A white path towards the blue mountains
“Soñé que tú me llevabas” – “I dreamed that you were leading me”. These words open one of the most tender poems by Antonio Machado (1875–1939). The Spanish poet wrote it in the years after the death of his young wife, Leonor:
Soñé que tú me llevabas
por una blanca vereda,
en medio del campo verde,
hacia el azul de las sierras,
hacia los montes azules,
una mañana serena.
I dreamed that you were leading me
along a white path,
through the middle of the green field,
towards the blue of the sierras,
towards the blue mountains,
one serene morning.
Javier Busto knows this poet well: his “Poema a un olmo seco” is also based on a poem by Machado. How much of the new title lives in the music, the score will tell. The work is still unpublished, and the choirs receive it with their confirmation in early November.
You can hear it at the compulsory song session on Saturday, 10 July 2027, in the Stadtsaal. Every choir taking part will sing it, each in its own way.
The composer
Family doctor, rock musician, choral composer
Javier Busto was born on 13 November 1949 in Hondarribia in the Basque Country. He sang in choirs from childhood, played in rock and folk groups as a young man and studied medicine in Valladolid. For many years he worked as a family doctor. He taught himself music, and Erwin List encouraged him to conduct.
In Valladolid he led the Ederki choir from 1971 to 1976. In 1978 he founded the Eskifaia choir in his home town and led it until 1994. Kanta Cantemus Korua (1995) and Aquam Lauda Korua (2014) followed. With his choirs he won first prizes in France, Italy, Austria and Germany. Today festivals and competitions around the world invite him as a conductor and juror.
Choirs all over the world sing his pieces. His “Ave Maria” failed at a composition competition in Tolosa in 1985 for being too Romantic. It has since sold more than 120,000 copies. He wrote his “Missa pro defunctis” (1997) for a Japanese choir, as a response to the Kobe earthquake of 1995. It ends with a movement in Japanese.
“I always try to emote, for I believe it’s the most important thing.”
Javier Busto
Have a listen
His music, his voice
His “Ave Maria” and “Esta tierra”, plus a long conversation with him in Spanish.
- Javier Busto: Ave Maria – Atlanta Master Chorale
- Javier Busto: Esta tierra
- Javier Busto – Interview (Juanlu Music)
A reunion
He already knows Spittal
Spittal is not a new place for Javier Busto. In 1984, at the 21st International Choir Competition, his choir Coral Eskifaia sang here and took second place in both categories. 43 years later his music returns, and this time everyone sings it.
We look forward to that morning in July.
The year 1984 in the archive
The three compulsory songs for 2027