This poem by Dana Gioia is spoken by a santo, a devotional wooden statue carved by a Mexican folk artist. This anthropomorphized statue speaks of its history and its fate as a museum piece. The setting, a hymn by Robert Schuneman, is intended to challenge singers’ perception of rhythm, harmony, and structure. It contains a cantus firmus that undergoes various transformations paired with shifting time signatures nearly the entire way through the piece. Mostly homophonic music is contrasted by pas...