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“Te doy una Canción ” (“I give you a Song ” 1970); in
Mujeres and En vivo en Argentina, 1978

This song, also written for Emilia Sánchez, contains some tension from modal mixture that nicely complements the text, as observed with “Ojalá.”  First, iv (Bb minor, in F major) is substituted for IV (Bb major), coloring “papeles recordandote” in both major and minor harmonies. In the ensuing “Como no te me quitas de las ganas,” G major (II#) is substituted for G minor (ii), coloring this positive thought with a major chord.  The negative thought in the next line, “Aunque nadie me vea, nunca contigo,” is ended with a deceptive cadence to vi (D minor), foreshadowing harmonic moves in the chorus.

The chorus is a tug-of-war between F major and its relative minor D; no sooner has one key been confirmed by an authentic cadence when the harmony starts to modulate to the other (Ex. 7A). The F major cadence at the beginning of the chorus is followed in the next measure by D minor; this chord marks the beginning of a modulatory sequence to D minor, culminating in the dominant of D minor at “y de las sombras sales tú”. The imperfect authentic cadence in D minor (“Te doy una canción de madrugada”) is immediately followed by a sequence leading back to F major (V/V à V at “cuando más quiero tu luz”). Mirroring these harmonies is the melody, which follows an antecedent-consequent pattern in F major and D minor, with the same initial leaps and ensuing scalar descents transposed between antecedent and consequent (Ex. 7B).  The text also mirrors this major-minor dichotomy: The shadows (sombras) of the first couplet give way to the dawn (madrugada) and light (luz) of the second, as the harmony moves from minor to major.  Hence the text and the fluctuating harmonies complement each other in illustrating the two sides of love – its joys and sorrows.

Ex. 7A-“Te doy una canción,” Chorus

*Rhythms of melody after Martha Duarte (Rodríguez 2005, vol. 4: 206)

Ex. 7B-“Te doy una canción,” Chorus, Schenker graph

Similarly, the text is well-complemented with the music in the last iteration of the chorus, which breaks from the above-described pattern (Ex. 7C). The last couplet reiterates the notes G-F-E-D in the melody as the text insists, “como un disparo, como un libro, una palabra, una guerrilla.”  In addition, the melody of the chorus is recalled in the last line “como doy el amor,” where the run up in its melody from C to Bb recalls the beginning of the chorus. Just as the listener thinks the song has ended resolutely on major, the instrumental tag ends with a iv-I; not all the clouds can be dispelled.

Ex. 7C-“Te doy una canción,” Ending

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