Catechism was inspired by the poetry of twentieth century Brazilian poet
Joã,o Cabral de Melo Neto. Cabral´s poem entitled Berceo´s Catechism
(Catecismo de Berceo, from Museu de tudo, 1975) is a primer in the manner of
poetic construction, which in my mind applies equally well to music
composition. In four movements, the score seeks to musically portray the
stanzas of the poem in succession. An added performance option would be to
include a narration of the poem a stanza at a time before each movement is played.