On a day like today, 92 years ago, Manuel María was born (Outeiro de Rei October 6, 1929, A Coruña September 8, 2004), a poet from Terra Chá, who fed my album “A voz do vento” (The voice of the wind) in 2016, the year they dedicated the Day of Galician Letters to him.
To celebrate this anniversary properly, I went with my brother Carlos to the Manuel María House Museum, located in Outeiro de Rei, in the home of Hortas. In this wonderful space that houses the whole of Manuel María’s legacy, we were received and guided by Alberte Ansede, secretary of the Manuel María Foundation for Galician Studies, based in Manuel María’s own museum house. Alberte, a walking encyclopedia around the poet of Terra Chá, happily and warmly explained to us each piece that makes up the house, and the intimate relationship of each one with each moment of the life of Manuel María and his inseparable companion Saleta.
We took advantage of the visit to make a short video recording in which I recite-sing the poem “Aínda teño a esperanza” (I still have hope) because, among other things, Carlos and I still hope to go through all of them one by one. the parishes of Galicia, places and houses. We certainly follow in the footsteps marked by Manuel María, bringing music and poetry to every place we visit. The female voice of the song is that of Belén Tajes.
As we approached Terra Chá, the poem that Manuel María dedicated to these lands in one of his first published books came to mind, precisely entitled “Terra Chá”:
| TERRAS DA TERRA CHÁ | LANDS OF THE TERRA CHÁ |
| Terras onde nacín, gárdovos lei. | Lands where I was born, I keep you law. |
| Paixón e soidade da Galiza: | Passion and solitude of Galiza: |
| ¡Castro, Rábade, Outeiro de Rei, | Castro, Rábade, Outeiro de Rei, |
| Cospeito, Vilalba e Pastoriza…! | Cospeito, Vilalba and Pastoriza…! |
| ¡Terras miñas, boas e fermosas! | My lands, good and beautiful! |
| ¡Terras amantes! ¡Terras de verdá! | Loving lands! Real lands! |
| ¡Cos vosos ríos, agros e camposas | With your rivers, fields and fields |
| vós sodes a flor da Terra Chá! | you are the flower of Terra Chá! |
| Sempre coa vosa lembranza vivirei. | I will always live with your memory. |
| Saudade viva ardendo no meu peito. | Living longing burning in my chest. |
| ¡Castro, Rábade, Outeiro de Rei, | Castro, Rábade, Outeiro de Rei, |
| Pastoriza, Vilalba e mais Cospeito! | Pastoriza, Vilalba and Cospeito! |
If you want to know more about the edition of the book “Terra Chá”, pay a visit to the Wikipedia page in Galician.
Manuel María often recited, and fortunately many of those recitals were recorded. Here we can listen to him in his poem “Ollei missiles with radar” (I looked at missiles with radar), courtesy of the Fundación Manuel María de Estudos Galegos.
I leave you with a recording of the song “Forasteiro”, from the album “A voz do vento” (2016), which we did at the VI Cita coa Historia in As Pontes in 2019, in which I was at the head of an extraordinary band with Gueorgui Oganesian’s tenor sax, Miguel Vázquez on soprano sax, Ángeles Dorrio with his powerful and warm voice in the choirs, Bernardo Pita on electric guitar, Miguel Paz on drums and Antón Torroncho on bass.
To see and listen to the video, click on the photo.
That’s it this time, folks. A small tribute to a very great poet. If you want to know more about the poet of Terra Chá, you can visit the page of the Casa Museo Manuel María. Or, better yet, organize a trip to Outeiro de Rei and visit it in person. And, of course, read the literature of Manuel María.
If you want to see more events related to the album “A voz do vento” click HERE.