Translations. How do we say what we want to say with the languages we have at hand? Music will talk to us without words. My ears hear fear and mystery in early music; joy and lightness of being in baroque, and the wonders of the world in classical music. Of course, Sturm und Drang in romantic repertoire and the questions and voices that raised their opposition to the wars and destruction of the 20th century.

Some composers paired themselves with librettist and added a new layer: if music opens a window, words open a door to any world.

Mirror is understood as a surface that reflects an image. Espejo is an object, and instrument to see. Yet, to see and to reflect are not equal: the object is the same. Los ojos son el espejo/la ventana del alma. “The eyes are the mirror/window of the soul”. The phrases come from a different understanding of the concept, and one of them does not accept the object (mirror). But people use these phrase randomly, as if they meant the same. They do not. The speaker is not thinking of the meaning, and the reader is not savoring the subtext.

There was a time with nothing else to do but to talk and read. No concert halls, records or radios. The world was center around storytelling. And the best story tellers added subtleties by choosing the words they used. It was an artform.

Words and good stories need to be savor like a gourmet dish. With wonder, curiosity and very slow. If we choose the wine that accompany our meal, why don’t we also choose the translators of our readings? Speed reading has become and art; I for myself am a slow reader, because I want to taste the flavors of the words. And I say this as I write fast, not necessarily cleaning all I should clean; this is just a stream of thoughts: a reflection of my work right now, and not an entrance to my soul.

We worked on supertitles last night with my boss. In three hours we finished two songs. We were trying to be fair to the beauty of the text, so that what a Spanish writer meant would be understood in English. Not an easy task. But we can only try. This we know for sure: word by word translation will fail sharing the Spanish flavors…