"Sensemayá" is a poem by the Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén. Guillén's poem evokes a ritual Afro-Caribbean chant performed while killing a snake. It inspired an orchestral work of the same title by the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas. It is one of Revueltas's most famous compositions. Revueltas first set the poem to music in Mexico City in 1937, originally for small orchestra. In 1938, he expanded it into a full-scale orchestral work. WIKIPEDIA VIDEO: Hobart Earle conducts the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of "Sensemayá" in the Odessa Opera House (July 2012)
