Platero y yo: Elegía Andaluza (review)

The prose poem Platero y yo, written by Juan Ramón Jiménez, chronicles the life and adventures of a young boy (Jiménez) and his little donkey Platero in their Andalusian village. Each short chapter (also called "verses" due to the poetic nature of the book) is a snapshot: the friendship between Jiménez and Platero, the change of seasons, children in the village, an encounter with gypsies, the death of Platero. The complete version published in 1917 contains 138 verses, and while it has been labeled as a story for children, Jiménez himself wrote that it was not, even though an abridged edition had been published as juvenile literature.

In 1960, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco composed classical guitar music for twenty-eight of the verses from the book Platero y yo. Frank Koonce has taken seventeen of those verse compositions to accompany the narration of Nelsen Brenes (also with Elisabet Ortiz as the voice of a little girl) in the 2008 CD release of Platero y yo: Elegía Andaluza.

The simplicity of Platero y yo could easily be overwhelmed with a musical accompaniment, but Brenes and Koonce balance spoken word with music in a way that does not detract from the beauty of either. Both narration and guitar can stand separately; when put together, the listener benefits. Brenes brings his experience in radio and theater to give a reading that does not overpower the material. His rich, animated voice draws in the listener; he does not simply read (or at times, sing) the verses, but expresses them as if he were Jiménez himself relating the story. The accompaniment responds to the reading just as expressively, adding a playful note here, a mournful chord there. Musical interludes within the verses underscore the narration, as well as highlighting Koonce's light touch and clear playing.

Most of the seventeen tracks begin with a guitar solo, usually between ten and thirty seconds, to set the mood of the verse. The second track on the CD begins with fifteen seconds of light, happy music that would certainly characterize the title of the verse, Amistad (Friendship). Brenes begins his narration of the friendship between Platero and the boy in a similar, happy way. His voice varies in tone and timbre, elongating the pause of commas and semicolons, with longer pauses between some sentences and paragraphs to heighten the poetic feeling. As in all of the verses, the guitar is a second voice to Brenes, underscoring his telling of the story and at times, taking the leading role.

There are some sections in this work that may give the listener pause, not because of any defect of the reading or instrumentation, but because the mixing of the tracks is slightly flawed. In most of the verses, the volume of Koonce's guitar rises and falls to complement the narration. At a few points, however, the guitar and voice are at the same volume, causing the narration to fade into the music for a few notes. It is never for more than a few beats, and is not an overwhelming distraction to the overall enjoyment of the content.

Track numbers, verse titles (in Spanish and English when appropriate), and running times for each track are provided on the back cover. A forty-six-page booklet attached to the inside of the case provides pictures and Spanish/English biographies for Juan Ramón Jiménez, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Brenes, and Koonce, along with a complete Spanish text of the verses, with English translations on the facing page. The print is small, but the pages are free of clutter, making the text easy to follow. Black and white sketch illustrations by Maud and Miska Petersham on several pages of the booklet highlight the theme of that verse.

With the printed text included, along with an English translation, this work could be used in various settings with many types of learners. Independent learners will benefit from the dual inputs of spoken...