"Com os Mortos" - Poema de Antero de Quental

Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901), Isle of the Dead ("Die Toteninsel"), 1883, 3ª versão 

Com os Mortos

Os que amei, onde estão? Idos, dispersos, 

arrastados no giro dos tufões, 

Levados, como em sonho, entre visões, 

Na fuga, no ruir dos universos... 

E eu mesmo, com os pés também imersos 

Na corrente e à mercê dos turbilhões, 

Só vejo espuma lívida, em cachões, 

E entre ela, aqui e ali, vultos submersos... 

Mas se paro um momento, se consigo 

Fechar os olhos, sinto-os a meu lado 

De novo, esses que amei vivem comigo, 

Vejo-os, ouço-os e ouvem-me também, 

Juntos no antigo amor, no amor sagrado, 

Na comunhão ideal do eterno Bem. 

Antero de Quental,

in "Sonetos"

"The Isle of the Dead, Symphonic poem Op. 29" 

Sergei Rachmaninoff (composer) - Sir Andrew Davis (conductor)

Isle of the Dead, Op. 29, is a symphonic poem composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff, written in the key of A minor. He concluded the composition while staying in Dresden in 1908. It is considered a classic example of Russian late-Romanticism of the beginning of the 20th century.

The piece was inspired by a black and white reproduction of Arnold Böcklin's painting, Isle of the Dead, which Rachmaninoff saw in Paris in 1907. Rachmaninoff was disappointed by the original painting when he later saw it, saying, "If I had seen first the original, I, probably, would have not written my Isle of the Dead. I like it in black and white."

The music begins by suggesting the sound of the oars as they meet the waters on the way to the Isle of the Dead. The slowly heaving and sinking music could also be interpreted as waves. Rachmaninoff uses a recurring figure in 5/8 time to depict what may be the rowing of the oarsman or the movement of the water, and as in several other of his works, quotes the Dies Irae plainchant, an allusion to death. In contrast to the theme of death, the 5/8 time also depicts breathing, creating a holistic reflection on how life and death are intertwined. (Daqui)