Category: Music

This little gem is my song of the week. Originally an Irish dandling song (that’s a song you sing to a small child while you bounce them on your knee), “Cucanandy” also works well as a jig.

The accomplished young musician you see in this video is playing an Irish bouzouki and her father is playing a concertina. The bouzouki, which originated in Greece, has been adapted to play Irish fiddle tunes, like a mandolin but in a lower octave, as you can see here. A lovely melody and a lively arrangement!

I dedicate this week’s post to the memory of my aunt Shelagh, who played the concertina and loved folk music of all kinds.

A fabulous young folk artist, Molly Tuttle started playing music at home with her family as a child. Now, just 25 years old, she has already won copious awards and honors for her music. You can read the details of her accomplishments here: http://www.therealeasyed.com/molly-tuttle-from-her-tweens-to-her-twenties/

… or just enjoy listening to this beautiful song she wrote.

I recently discovered this treasure: “La petite hirondelle”! It’s a French-Canadian folk song and dance, similar to “London Bridge”, but instead of a bridge falling down, the theme is a naughty swallow who has stolen our wheat and must be punished!

“Qu’est-ce qu’elle a donc fait,
la petite hirondelle
Elle nous a voler
Trois petits grains de ble
Nous l’attrapperons,
la petite hirondelle
Nous lui donnerons
Trois petits coup d’baton

Pass, pass, passera,
la derniere, la derniere
Pass, pass, passera,
la derniere restera!

Pass, pass, pass through,
the last one, the last one,
pass, pass, pass through,
the last one stays!

In the dance, as you can see in the video, the children pass under the joined hands of the adults (or other children) until the last line of the chorus. Then the last swallow is caught, and put in the center of the dance. Finally she is “punished” – the others tap her on the head (GENTLY) to represent the strikes of the baton.

For Valentine’s Day, I offer you this adorable Italian children’s street song, which ends with a kiss!

Lyrics:
La bella lavanderina, che lava i fazzoletti
per i poveretti della citta’
fai un salto, fanne un altro
fai la giravolta, falla un’altra volta
guarda in su, guarda in giu’
dai un bacio a chi vuoi tu!

English Translation:

The little washer-woman, washing all the hankies
for the poor people down in the town
go on a trip (or jump), go on another
turn yourself around, turn around again
look to the sky, look to the ground
give a kiss to whomever you choose!

I have one problem – I watched dozens of home videos of little children dancing and singing this song, and I was unable to decide which one was the cutest. So, I decided to share my two favorites and let you be the judge! (They are less than one minute in length each.)

According to Serena at Transparent Language (a blog which covers aspects of Italian language and culture), La bella lavanderina is “a popular game [where] the children fanno il girotondo (make a ring). One child is chosen to be la lavanderina (the little washerwoman), and stands in the center of the ring acting out the ‘script’ of the rhyme. When the rhyme is finished the bambino or bambina chooses another child from the ring and they swap places.”

La bella lavanderina is a perfect example of “childlore”, or children’s folklore. It must be at least a hundred years old (how long has it been since washer-women washed hankies for poor people?) and thus, part the remarkable oral tradition of songs, rhymes and games that is unique to childhood. Children’s folklore is passed on by word of mouth from one generation of children to another, exists in virtually every culture around the world, and in most cases has no known author. The American Library Association confirms that children’s folklore is indeed “a form of literature”.

Sadly, many factors in our modern world threaten this wonderful oral tradition, including limited recess time at school, segregated age classes, tv and digital media culture, and any other factors that reduce the time children spend in free play in mixed age groups. Some ways that parents can help preserve children’s folklore include coming to my family music classes :), limiting your kids’ screen time, co-ordinating playdates with kids of different ages, and singing and playing children’s music in your home.

Your Weekly Listen for 11/13/16 is this traditional Navajo (Diné) song, performed by Daybreak Warrior. Now sung by Diné parents to their children as a lullaby, the song refers to the end of a terrible time in their ancestral history: the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo.

In the winter of 1863-64, Kit Carson, a lieutenant in the Union Army, was instructed by his superior, Major James Henry Carleton, to “solve the Navajo problem”. Carson led an army which ravaged the Diné countryside in the Four Corners region of New Mexico, killing men, women and children, burning crops and orchards, killing livestock, destroying villages, and contaminating water sources. Without food, and with nowhere left to hide, the starving Diné were gathered at Fort Defiance (near modern day Grants, NM) and were forced to march 400 miles to the Bosque Redondo reservation at Fort Sumner, NM. Out of 11,500 Diné captured, around 8,500 reached Fort Sumner. Some escaped and fled west, some were taken by slave traders, and many died along the way.

The captives were fed meagre army rations, which made them sick. The alkaline water from the Pecos River caused intestinal problems, and many prisoners were killed by an epidemic of smallpox. Winters were bitterly cold, and there was inadequate firewood.

In June of 1865, a Joint Special Committee of Congress visited the reservation to investigate conditions. It was obvious that the Bosque Redondo reservation was a failure. However, it was not until the spring of 1868 that a treaty was signed which finally allowed the Diné to return to their homelands. They had to walk all the way home.

As they walked, they caught sight of Mount Taylor, known to them as Tsoodzil, which they consider to be a sacred mountain. Overcome with joy, they began to sing “Shi Naasha”, which means “I Am Walking”.

Those of you who learned this song from me in music class will notice some of Daybreak Warrior’s pronunciation is different. I learned the song from Julia Begaye’s recording, which you can find on iTunes. I don’t know which is the “correct” version, or if both are correct. I myself do not speak Diné, and I understand that the structure of the language is so different from English that a literal translation is not possible. However, I believe the most important thing to know is that the song is an expression of joy and gratitude.