Available Now: De Colores
This piece is scored for 3-part mixed choir, and is optimally accompanied by guitar, but can be done with piano.
Find it on the Graphite Marketplace.
I arranged this piece for Heritage Choir last summer, and I’m thrilled to see it in print as part of Border CrosSing’s choral series. This piece can be performed a cappella, but is best performed with guitar accompaniment.
Many people know “De Colores” as a children’s song about the beauty of nature and color, but the song goes beyond that. De Colores became the anthem of the United Farm Workers Movement, led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in California during the 1960’s and 1970’s. This Canción de la Causa, or song for the cause, took on new meaning in light of the migrant workers who worked harsh conditions to grow and harvest crops in the United States. De Colores was the anthem sung to close out union meetings of the UFWM. People stood with arms crossed in front, reaching to the right and to the left to hold hands with someone else, and shouted “¡Sí Se Puede!” (Yes, we can!) at the end.
