• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • About
    • Bio
    • FAQ/Resources
    • Photos
    • Instagram
  • Catalog
  • which piece should I perform?
    • Orchestra Recommendations
    • Choral Recommendations
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Cart
  • Search

Reena Esmail

Composer

Dhire Dhire (version for SATB)

May 29, 2023 by

Navigate to:

  • Program Notes
  • Text
  • Recording
  • Special Performance Requirements
  • Audio Guide
  • Premiere/Performances
  • Press/Reviews
Score video of Dhire Dhire

Program Notes

I am constantly drawn to the ‘dohe’ (couplets) of Kabir. His statements are pithy but their meanings are vast. They have been set and sung for hundreds of years in the Hindustani classical tradition, and they seem to meet each generation of performers and listeners in a unique way. 

This tiny couplet is about patience. The singer beckons her own mind to be patient — that everything will come in its own time. Just as a seed can be watered a hundred times, it will only bloom in spring. 

This work was written specifically for young musicians. I know that the music I learned early on in my musical training made a deep impression on me — perhaps because I was learning music itself through those pieces. If anything about this work stays with the young musicians who encounter it, I hope it is Kabir’s timeless message.

Text

Dhire Dhire re mana
Dhire sub kuch hoya
Maali seenche sau gharaa
Ritu aaye, phal hoya

Translation:

Little by little, dear mind
Gradually, everything comes to be
The gardener can water a hundred times
But the fruit only comes in spring

Recording

see video above

Special Performance Requirements

Singers are not required to have any Indian classical training to perform this piece.

The text is in Hindi. I wrote this work specifically as an entry point for young Western classical singers to learn to sing in Hindi, at the same time in their training that they are learning to sing in European languages. There are very few words, and the audio guide below lays out the pronunciation clearly for non-native speakers (the score includes both the original devanagari script and the transliteration for ease of reading).

Like Italian, Hindi is an incredibly vocal language — it feels so uniquely suited for song — and I want young singers of all backgrounds to feel at home in these words.

Audio Guide

audio guide for singer (pronunciation et al) for Dhire Dhire

Premiere/Performances

The original version of Dhire Dhire was premiered on July 3rd, 2022 at the Music Teachers’ Association of California Convention, in Anaheim CA.

Press/Reviews

Availability:

This title is available through Oxford University Press


Instrumentation: SATB Chorus
Other Versions:
  • Dhire Dhire (version for soprano and piano trio)
Duration: 5'
Year: 2022
Movements: 1
Language: Hindi
Commissioned By:

Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC)


—

Looking to program Reena’s choral work? Click here for a spreadsheet of all of Reena’s choral repertoire, searchable by length, difficulty, instrumentation, topic, et al.

 

 

 

 

Esmail is the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s 2020-2025 Swan Family Artist in Residence, and was Seattle Symphony’s 2020-21 Composer-in-Residence. She also holds awards/fellowships from United States Artists, the S&R Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Kennedy Center.

Quick links

  • Bio
  • Catalog
  • Press
  • Shop
  • Contact

Contact Details

Requesting a perusal copy of choral music
Email: manager@reenaesmail.com

Offer volume discounts to wholesalers for print orders
Please inquire at: info@reenaesmail.com

All other inquiries
Please email: manager@reenaesmail.com

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn