A few weeks ago, we watched a podcast-type show hosted by two of our favorite personalities. The third participant of the talk was a Mr. C., professional singer and theater actor, whose singing (as it was mentioned in that interview) had cured many listeners. I was curious about it. At some point, after a short presentation of Mr. C. and his career, the man was asked to sing and present his healing voice abilities.
Yes, it was powerful indeed. The vibration of the sound created by the Mr. C's vocal cords was quite strong. However, my body found it very unpleasant, the least to say. With all the appreciation of Mr. C's talent, the sound frequency he produced felt to me like a very disturbing disharmony attacking my body/frequency zone. It all made me feel like running away from the source of that distressing vibration. I did stay in my place, though because I wanted to watch the show. According to what the hosts of the program said - they found the singing very pleasant. I did not. Perhaps, I was the only person watching the show who had such a bad impression about it? I do not know/do not know why. Later, when I went to sleep, nightmares about singing vampires who were trying to get me/I was fighting them, bothered me all night long.
After waking up, while recovering after the disturbing dreams, I reminded myself what Mr. C. said. He mentioned that he does not do his healing-type singing uninvited, and that he seeks sad persons. Well, I am not one of them. Maybe that was a reason why the sounds the singer created felt to me so very disharmonious?
Coming back to those nightmares - the vampires did not get me. I found a yellow, metal tape that helped me fight them. A curious thing was - the tape activated itself only when the vampires started singing.
It is said those creatures cannot harm you if you do not invite them in - I did not. They just happened to be at the bed-and-breakfast place where I stayed for a night.
On the whole, I would not want to experience that type of vibration/frequency (as the one mentioned above) again. However, it is good that some people find it therapeutic. What resonates with others does not have to resonate with me.
"Red Belt" (Czerwony Pas) was one of the songs that we sang with my primary school girls' choir. One of the two I can recall.
The song about Hutsuls (Carpathian highlanders) living their happy and free lives in the Carpathian Mountains is quite old and known both in Poland and Ukraine. I like the changing tempo of the tune - from slow to a faster one. It is also one of the traditional songs that used to be sung by many generations on both sides of the Polish/Ukrainian border. The piece comes from a drama (published in 1843) written by Józef Korzeniowski, Polish writer who lived in the area that was part of Poland then. Nowadays, it is western Ukraine.
A traditional version of the Red Belt
More modern version of the song by a contemporary folk group
Our choir director was also our Music teacher, a man in his early thirties. As I have already mentioned in one of my previous posts, the Music curriculum in Polish educational system is related to general knowledge of music, its history, composers and their main pieces + basic understanding of notes and musical notation. The choir was an extra/after classes activity, officially not mandatory. However, if the teacher said you had a good voice/musical ear, you had to participate in the choir activities to get an A in Music.
So we did sing at school assemblies and once even participated in a regional school choirs competition. I cannot remember what the outcome of the latter was, though. Our teacher was quite good at his profession, he played the piano during the Music classes and accompanied the girls' choir. We had the songs sheets, with lyrics only, as singing songs/notes was not part of the school subject curriculum. We simply followed the musical instructions given by the teacher and the melody played by him on the piano.
During the summer break, the teacher was part of the music band on the Stefan Batory passenger liner, that regularly cruised between Poland and the USA. At that time, traveling to the Western countries including the US was not a thing that everybody could do. Mainly those people whose jobs required crossing the border were allowed to do so. The man must have been a good piano player to get a job on that passenger cruiser and/or perhaps had some "connections" that helped him achieve that.
Stefan Batory
Somehow, my girlfriend and I did not see that particular side of it all and we were not impressed that the man managed to see the States every now and then. We found it rather funny and peculiar that an honorable teacher was also a band musician on a boat. These days, I look at it differently, but being kids, we found it weird and rather undignified.
Another thing that made us little girls laugh was the teacher's socks that he tended to wear quite often.
It was the time of the "Interkosmos" mission project, when the international astronauts crew made their first spaceflight. Our teacher seemed to like wearing colorful socks with the "Interkosmos" logo on them. I do not know whether anybody else noticed that, but we, silly girls, did.
Wherever the man is these days, I wish him all the best. I liked the choir days/time.
The other song I can recall we sang with the girls' choir was a Polish version of Joan Baez's song "Donna". The Polish lyrics made it an anti-war song. Somehow, I can still remember the song words.
(My free translation into English)
One life you have, who will you give this flower to, do not go across the river, you will perish there. One life you have, who will you give this flower to, when a shot will come from across the river.
People, people do not perish, you will save the world. People, people, I pity you, It is the war that is to perish.
Dona, Dona...
PS Years ago, when I was still working in Poland, one day, I happened to wear a t-shirt with the word "Texas" on it. During a class, some students of mine started giggling "O - Texas, Texas". I guess, my Texas t-shirt was in their eyes an equivalent of the Music teacher's Interkosmos socks.
Credits:
Stephan Batory ship photo: By Wolfgang Fricke - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=103579976
Recently, my mom has asked me whether the local German choirs sing a song about a little rose. I do not think they have it in their repertoire, but I do know they sing about a white rose of Athens. The song which mom remembers from her childhood is "Heidenröslein".
Its lyrics were originally a poem written in 1791 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (born 1749/ died 1832). The poem was dedicated to Miss Friederike Brion, a pastor's daughter. Goethe and Friederike were involved in a love affair.
The words of the poem tell a story about a boy who picks a little rose without her consent and her suffering because of that. Metaphorically, it can be taken as a situation when the boy forces himself on a girl.
Who knows what really happened between the two considering that the romance between the writer and Friederike did not last long. Allegedly, the man cut the relationship short, and the lady never married, despite having a proper suitor later. Or maybe it was all the poet's imagination?
Several composers, including Schubert and Lehar, wrote the music for "Heidenröslein". However, it was the tune created by Heinrich Werner in 1829 that made the poem a popular song.
Since I used to live by the Baltic Sea, quite a few entries of "My Polish Alphabet" in one way or another are related to the sea.
"Lonely Frigate" ("Samotna Fregata") is one of those traditional songs that were known and sung by many Poles despite the fact, that it was not played on the radio or TV. Well, at least not in my time. The tune, which is rather sad, was quite popular where I lived. Combined with the lyrics, it has sometimes made me teary a bit.
For so many years, I had no clue who the authors of the song were. I guess it is never too late to learn something. While preparing this post, I found out that the lyrics had been written by Konrad Łapin, a Polish poet who lived by the sea. Henryk Hubertus Jabłoński, a Polish composer of Gdańsk, wrote the music of "Lonely Frigate" (and many other songs well).
Here is the song.
My translation of the text:
In a faraway port, somewhere at the end of the world, Where a dead wave hits the shore, A lonely frigate, for long years, Has been waiting for something at the mouth of two rivers.
The rivers fall into one sea, But a current carries them in two directions, The frigate waits, though she might want to Pick up the anchor and sail away.
In a faraway port, somewhere at the end of the world, Where a dead wave hits the shore, A girl lives who, for long years, Has been waiting for someone at the mouth of two rivers.
The rivers fall into one sea, but a current carries them in two directions. The girls has been waiting, Though she might want to leave everything and sail away.
But the anchors hold too tight, Two rivers have been flowing in both directions for years, On the water only, at the northern lights, A snow-like flower floats away.
And this is how the fate of the girl Intertwines somehow with the fate of the frigate That has been standing for years. At a faraway harbor, somewhere at the end of the world, Where only the wind sings carelessly.
An instrumental version of the song is included below. I have no clue why the lady is kneeling in the water (a mermaid ?). The music is nice, though.
A lady said to me not long ago: "You speak Polish and English, but you sing in German. I don't understand." I replied: "What don't you understand? If I had an opportunity to practice the other language which I learned at school, I would."
Well, I have done it before. Meaning signing in a foreign language not only to myself but in public as well.
The first time was in primary school when I was 14. Not that I volunteered to do that, oh no. I was part of the school choir then. Our music teacher, who was also the choir director, and the teacher of Russian, chose me to sing a song in Russian during a school assembly.
Poland was part of the Soviet block at that time, and every year, schools and bigger workplaces observed "the days of Soviet culture and science". The observance was mandatory and some state events related to those "days" were always reported on TV.
Anyhow, the song which I sang solo at that assembly was done to mark the above-mentioned observance in the school papers/report. Its lyrics were nothing political, though. The text (children appropriate) was about Cinderella and the ball she attended at the Prince's castle. The tune was nice, but the refrain part was full of high notes and difficult to sing. Luckily, the music teacher arranged it in a way that the school choir supported me in that. Being shy, I did not enjoy standing in front of the entire school and doing my solo part, but I did like the song.
The song was originally sang by Russian artist Ludmila Senchina, its
title was "Хоть поверьте хоть проверьте"/"Believe it or check it out."
A few years earlier, my first unofficial solo presentation took place. One day, an unexpected visitation occurred in our local youth club. Neighborhood kids (including myself) spent their after-school time in the club, doing various activities and playing games under the supervision of the club instructor. Quite out of the blue, a group of ladies, delegates from Siberia appeared in the club. My guess is that they had probably been sent there by some city officials. Certainly, it was not an accidental matter.
Anyway, the club instructor was told to entertain the ladies with the kids' performance. Since we had not worked on any program like that, it was quite a desperate situation. The counselor asked us (kids) whether anybody would want to/dare to sing/dance or do whatever proper in front of the visitors. I was one of very few who agreed. Well, I just felt how helpless the situation was. What I did - I sang some notes of a popular Russian song about gingerbread cookies. However, I knew only a few Russian words of the song, the rest was la, la, la. I also played one melody on the xylophone (I was part of the club xylophone group then). Since it was all without prior practice, to my horror, I happened to play out of tune as well.
To my surprise, my performance made a positive impression on the visitors. One lady asked me about my name and address as she wanted a Polish pen pal for her daughter, who was about my age. The girl's name was Lena and we later exchanged letters for some time.
Decades later, I was part of an international EU educational program. Then, we learned the traditional songs of all the project partners (in their native tongues). The languages were, English, German, Czech,
Tancuj, Tancuj = Dance, Dance
Slovenian,
Pobelelo Pole = The Field Turned White (with sheep)
Bulgarian,
Italian (Sardinian song),
and Cypriot.
The most important side of singing in a foreign language is the correct pronunciation of the song words. Naturally, understanding the text adds more sense to it as well. During the project, both the prior and the latter were provided by the project partners.
In quite a different program, we cooperated with an Israeli school. From time to time, the teacher and her class sent us some videos and we made some too. I taught my students an old song in Yiddish (of Polish or Russian roots). No, I do not know the language. Just found the song lyrics and their English translation. The rest meaning pronunciation came "by ear". The kids enjoyed singing the song and making the video.
Of course, it is not the video we made.
All in all, singing in German in Texas is not such a big deal. However, I admit it may be found very unexpected. Anyhow, I did learn some German in Poland. Nevertheless, a few years ago, I did not have the faintest idea I would sing in the language here. Mysterious are the ways...
A few decades ago, group singing was a popular pastime in Poland. Everybody knew certain traditional songs, which not necessarily were played on the radio, but people did enjoy singing them when they got together. Some songs were more popular and well known in the north of the country only as they were related to the sea.
One of them was "Bosman" ("Bosun" in Eng.). I never knew who its author was till these days when I did some research. It was written by Jerzy Porębski. However, I did not find the information when exactly it was created. Well, ages ago.
My free translation "On the deck, since the morning, The bosun is always heard When he needlessly screams all the time. Even if you hurt your hands, He will always rebuke you and say: "It is done badly".
Boys, what has happened to you? When at the cauldron, then everybody hurries. It's not a tub, not a pan, You should know from your childhood, It is a Polish warship.
But is sometimes happens,
That the bosun daydreams,
Every bosun has their dreams.
If you ask him the,
He brings his squeezebox,
Sits on the stern and plays.
(...)"
The song has many verses, but we (the scouts) most often sang only four. Much later, I discovered that the next one tells what the bosun fantasized about - it was the sea, the abyss, the fights he experienced, girls of Bombay who love and kiss hard. Probably, the latter was a reason why we did not sing that part. On the other hand, the bosun also dreamed about Gdynia, the port which he loved so very much.
Traditional version of the song - the author Jerzy Porębski sings in the video
More modern and lively version of "Bosun"
PS
"My Polish Alphabet" is about things, people, and places that come to my mind when I think of Poland.
When I was growing up, Polish people tended to sing a lot. I do not mean pop songs played on the radio, but traditional songs known by all the generations. Whenever a group got together, they sang. On a bus/coach full of tourists, at summer camps, camping sites, parties - you name it. Some songs were common in the entire country, some were regional (more popular in certain areas of Poland). "Falcons" (or "Hey, Falcons") belongs to the first group. Actually, it is a Ukrainian song. Due to the intertwined history of both countries, it has become a traditional Polish song as well.
I sang the song with my primary school choir, among others. At that time, despite the lyrics, I thought about it as a Polish song only.
"Hey, Falcons" ("Hej, Sokoły") lyrics in Polish and English click here.
Interestingly, I have found the song sang by the Red Army Choir - "Alexandrov Ensemble". They visited Poland in 2009. Customary, while visiting a country, the choir sang a well-known traditional song of the land. They chose "Falcons" then.
Alexandrov Ensemble, their performances, were quite magnificent. I enjoyed listening to those singers. Tragically, the group (choir, musicians, and dance group) members were killed in a plane crash in 2016.
PS
There will be a few more posts related to songs in "My Polish Alphabet".
Decades ago, when I was trying to learn German, if someone had told me I would find that knowledge/language useful in Texas, I would have laughed, thinking the person was joking. Neither did I expect to be in Texas anytime in the future, nor have the faintest idea I would sing there in German. Mysterious are the ways indeed.
My mom tried to teach me German when I was little. She told me the German words for "a doll" (die Puppe) and "doll pram" (Puppenwagen), and that was the end of my learning in those days. The two German words sound similar to the Polish words that mean totally something else - "pupa" ("bottom" in Polish) and "waga" (="scales"/"to weigh"). Then, being a few years old, I found it very
funny, and I just could not stop laughing. Needless to say, mom got very discouraged regarding her teaching efforts.
Well, I am glad much later, when I was also much older, I did learn the language to a degree
that makes me able to be part of the local choir. I do enjoy it a lot.
Last week the town celebrated the 40th Oktoberfest, German language, culture, and heritage.
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