Splendor and Death of Joaquin Murieta

"The specter of Joaquín Murieta," Pablo Neruda writes in his foreword, "still rides the California countryside. Whoever approaches the truth of the legend of this bandit will feel the charismatic force of his gaze. His beheading is the subject of this cantata."

Joaquín Murieta, the historical person, was a Chilean highwayman who was captured and executed in California on July 24, 1853. The hero of this dramatic poem is an adventurous young man who sails from Valparaíso to San Francisco in 18...