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Piedra de sol

Acclaimed composer Joby Talbot’s choral setting of Mexican poet Octavio Paz’s epic masterpiece.

“Octavio Paz’s masterwork Piedra de sol defies easy description; drawing on Aztec symbolism and a heady dose of surrealism, it broadly traces an emotional U-shape – from creation to the depths of despair, and finally to a form of salvation. Craig Hella Johnson and chamber choir Conspirare are on absolutely top form in this choral tour de force, which has to be heard to be believed. Anyone who was blown away by Talbot’s Path of Miracles will not want to miss this.” —David Smith, Presto Music

Purchase CD Stream Album

Drawing on the symbolism of the Aztec calendar stone, Octavio Paz’s poem Piedra de sol (1957) is like no other. It uses techniques of modern poetry, particularly surrealist imagery, to meditate on cyclical time and the possibility of breaking its grip through poetry and love, as explained by Adela Pineda Franco of the University of Texas at Austin in her excellent booklet article.

The seventy-minute-long musical structure mirrors the poem’s narrative journey from ecstatic vision, through deep despair, to eventual enlightenment. It features a wide range of vocal textures, extended passages of complex rhythmic interplay, exposed solo passages for a single voice, and episodes where slabs of sound colour reflect the poem’s vivid imagery. Coloring much of the music is the marimba (superbly played by Thomas Burritt), which anchors the harmonies and rhythm and contributes to the otherworldly character of the musical palette. Piedra de sol invites listeners and performers alike on a journey of infinite dimensions – a voyage whose course bends, advances, recedes, comes full circle, and arrives forever.

Enjoy the first preview track!

SOPRANO 

  • Emily Yocum Black, Paducah, KY
  • Chelsea Helm*, Washington, DC
  • Gitanjali Mathur, Austin, TX
  • Elijah McCormack, Bridgeport, CT
  • Savannah Porter*, London, England
  • Kathlene Ritch*, Santa Fe, NM
  • Tiana Sorenson, Chicago, IL 

ALTO 

  • Ana Baida, Atlanta, GA 
  • Zerrin Agabigum Martin, Tampa, FL
  • Lauren McAllister, Cincinnati, OH
  • Laura Mercado-Wright*, Austin, TX
  • Katrina Saporsantos, Austin, TX 

TENOR 

  • Dann Coakwell*,  Ithaca, NY
  • Haitham Haidar, Montreal, QC
  • Noah Horn, Amherst, MA
  • Wilson Nichols*, New York, NY
  • David Kurtenbach Rivera – San Francisco, CA 

BASS 

  • Robert Harlan, Austin, TX
  • Harris Ipock*, Columbus, OH
  • Enrico Lagasca*, New York, NY
  • Glenn Miller*, Birmingham, MI
  • Tim O’Brien*, Austin, TX
  • John Proft, Austin, TX
  • Paul Max Tipton*, New York, NY
  • Jonathan Woody*, New York, NY 

INSTRUMENTALISTS 

  • Thomas Burritt, Marimba,  Leander, TX
  • Joseph Choi, Rehearsal Pianist, Austin, TX 
Track Listing

Creation
1. I. …a crystal willow, a poplar of water…
…un sauce de cristal, un chopo de agua…

2. II. …a single presence like a sudden song…
…una presencia como un canto subito…

3. III. …I travel between galleries of sound…
…voy entre galerías de sonidos…

4. IV. …I travel your body as if through the world…
…voy por tu cuerpo como por el mundo…

5. V. …your skirt of corn ripples and sings…
…tu falda de maíz ondula y canta…

6. VI. …endless corridors of memory…
…corredores sin fin de la memoria…

7. VII. …I search for a real moment, as alive as a bird…
…busco una fecha viva como un pájaro…

8. VIII. …writing of fire on a slab of jade…
…escritura de fuego sobre el jade…

Despair
9. IX. …there is nothing in front of me, only a moment salvaged from a dream…
…no hay nada frente a mí, solo un instante rescatado esta noche…

10. X. …while time snaps shut its fan…
…mientras el tiempo cierra su abanico…

11. XI. …oh life to be lived and already lived…
…oh vida por vivir y ya vivida…

12. XII. …facing an afternoon of saltpetre and stone…
…frente a la tarde de salitre y piedra…

13. XIII. …there is nothing left of me but a gaping wound…
…no hay nada en mî sino una larga herida…

Salvation
14. XIV. …in clarity…
…de claridad…

15. XV. …life and death make a pact in you, lady of the night…
…vida y muerte pactan en ti, señora de la noche…

16. XVI. …open your hand lady who sows the seeds that are days…
…abre le mano, señora de semillas que son días…

17. XVII. …gateway of being: awaken me and dawn…
…puerta del ser: abre tu ser, despierta…

18. XVIII. …I want to go on, to go further…
…quiero seguir, ir más allá…

19. XIX. …a crystal willow, a poplar of water…
…un sauce de cristal, un chopo de agua…

Executive Producers: Ann McNair, Craig Hella Johnson, and Robert Harlan
Producer and Recording Engineer: Randall Squires
Producer and Technical Director: Robert Harlan
Recording Assistant:  Cindy E. Shepard
Cover Design: Karin Elsener
Cover Image: David Coleman | Have Camera Will Travel / Alamy
Booklet Design: James Cardell-Oliver
Photos: Kennedy Box 
Joby Talbot headshot: Anna McCarthy
Diction Consultant: Pablo Zamora Mata
Stage Manager: Viera Buzgova 
Director of Development: Travis Fitzgold 
Artist Relations: Meri Krueger 
Production Assistant: Indri Schaelicke
Director of Accounting: Jane Ramirez 
Grants Manager: Catherine Spainhour 
Executive Assistant to the Artistic Director: Melissa LeClair and André Trahan

Recorded in the historic Evans Auditorium at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. 

PUBLISHED EXCLUSIVELY BY CHESTER MUSIC PART OF WISE MUSIC GROUP  www.wisemusicclassical.com 

Piedra de sol reprinted with kind permission from the Paz Estate and ©Octavio Paz 

Recorded on January 26-29, 2026 in the historic Evans Auditorium and Harlan Studios on March 20, 2026. 

Acknowledgements:
Conspirare gratefully acknowledges the Tejemos Foundation, Lynne Dobson and Greg Wooldridge, for their vital support of this recording.

Thank you to the Joel Brauer Fund for New Music and Mary & Phil Delk for underwriting Joby Talbot’s commission.

We thank the following individuals and organizations for their additional generous support of Conspirare:
H-E-B, Nancy Wilson Scanlan, members of Hella Circle, members of Hella’s Angels, Shield-Ayres Foundation, Still Water Foundation, Texas Commission on the Arts, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church, Conspirare Board and Staff, Randy Adair, Nancy & Randy Baden, Roslyn & Sean Breen, Marvin J. Brittman, Robert L. Brueck, Stephanie & Carla Burzyk-Smith, Dixie Camp, Fran & Larry Collmann, Paula D’Arcy, Nina & Jeffrey Di Leo, Susanna &
Richard Finnell, William G. Fivecoat, Elena Goyanes, Lara & Robert Harlan, Sheri Clark Henriksen, Howry, Breen & Herman LLP, Trish & Robert J. Karli, Gail & Jeff Kodosky, Kathy & Henry Leighton, Lee Manford & Casey Blass, Joey Martin, Rebecca & Art Miller, Philip Overbaugh & Craig Hella Johnson, DeeAnne & Steven Paulson, Tina & Dale Knobel, Gayle Glass Roche, Carol Williams, Anonymous, Two Anonymous Foundations, and every cocreator who believes in the power of music to heal and connect us. This project is funded in part by an Elevate Grant from the City of Austin.

Thank you to our venue hosts:
First English Lutheran Church
St. Martin’s Lutheran ChurchTexas State University College of Fine Arts and Communication
Dr. John Fleming, Dean, College of Fine Arts and Communication
Dr. Joey M. Martin, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research
Dr. Todd Sullivan, Director of the School of Music Chuck Harris, Operations Manager for Evans Auditorium
Hector Finlayson, Emma Hallett, Sara Vilera, Alan HolmquistCasteñeda, Evans Auditorium Crew

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