Category Archives: Musical

Mozart and Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere Mei Deus

Nationality: African-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pacifica, Ca
Performance Date: 4/11/2017
Primary Language: English

Informant:

Karl is a freshman aerospace engineering major. He spent thirteen years in a traditional boy’s chorus. He is also an avid soccer player

Piece:

So there is this famous song called Miserere mei deus by this italian composer gregorio Allegri. And most people either call it the Allegri or just Miserere. But there is this super famous story about it cause like it was written for the catholic church and only ever sung by the Vatican chorus during holy week within the sistine chapel because it was considered to be too perfect to ever be performed anywhere else. So in like the 1770’s or around that time Mozart got to go with his dad to listen to the Miserere and observe the holy week service within the sistine chapel. Wolfgang Mozart was only fourteen years old but his dad was an important composer who was invited to come to the service by the pope. That night though, when they got back to where they were staying Wolfgang Mozart wrote the entire piece down just from his own memory after hearing it just once. So when I hear the piece I don’t just hear the beauty of Allegri’s writing, but I also better comprehend the true genius that Mozart was.

Collector’s thoughts:

The Informant said that he learned this legend from his choir director who claimed to have heard it when they were young. The fact that this anecdote, independent of its validity, is told to young children helps to reveal that it is a way to inspire young people to unlock their musical potential by giving an example of what a famous composer accomplished when he was young. This legend is somewhat well document and more can be read here:

 

http://www.classicfm.com/composers/mozart/guides/mozart-allegri-miserere/

Additionally, Allegri’s Miserere can be heard here:

 

 

The Moon Lullaby

Nationality: Hispanic
Age: 48
Occupation: Payroll Administrator
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: March 28, 2017
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

At a family dinner, I asked my mom if she could tell me any folklore. She told me the following:

(I will be denoted C for collector, and my mom will be M):

M: “Luna, Luna,

Dame pan,

Para el chuchito,

Capitán,

Si no me das,

Anda al volcán.”

which translates to:

“Moon, Moon,

Give me bread,

For the puppy,

Captain,

If you do not give me,

Walk [in] to the volcano.”

C: “When would you sing it to us?”

M: “Just like when we were watching the night sky, especially the moon or I would sing it to you and your sister when I was trying to put you guys to sleep.”

Collector Analysis:

My mom learnt this song from a television soap opera she used to watch as a child. She recalls that her favorite actress in the entire world sang this song in the show. She remembered and would sing it to my sister and I when we were younger. So, the song itself is a way for my mom to remember her childhood. My mom and I would go camping a lot and watch the moon, which is when she would sing it. However, I do remember her singing it as a lullaby. I really enjoyed hearing my mom sing this again. I’m sure it was as nostalgic for me as it was for my mom. This song was just a huge part of my summers and my childhood overall.

Hand Games (La vibora de la mar)

Nationality: Mexico
Age: 19
Occupation: Student (University of Southern California)
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2017
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

When I was little, there was a… like, a hand game, I guess, I used to play with my… my cousins and my friends… uh, back in Mexico, in Morelia. Uh, and it was one of those where you, like… you know… (pantomimes clapping her hands and slapping the hands of a person sitting in front of her) Um… but the words to this one, like, the song that went with it… uh, it was to the tune of “La víbora de la mar,” which is a song that, like, people dance to at a lot of… traditional Mexican weddings… uh, but for this game, the words changed to:

“A la víbora, víbora de la mar, de la mar

Los cuadernos a volar

Las maestras a la calle

Y los niños a jugar

Una vieja gorda

De la dirección

Siempre nos acusa

Con el director

Señor director

Su perro me mordió

Lo voy a echar al horno

Con sal y limón

El que se mueva se lo comerá

Yo mejor me quedo así”

(Translation:

“To the serpent, serpent, of the sea, of the sea

The notebooks go flying

The teachers go to the streets

And the children go to play

An old, fat woman

From the administration

Always reports us to the principal

Mister principal

Your dog bit me

I’m going to throw him in the oven with salt and lime

Whoever moves will eat him

I’d better stay like this”)

Uh, and then you’d have to, like, freeze, and whoever moved first lost. Uh… yeah, and that was just one of the hand games I played a lot when… when I was younger.

 

Thoughts:

This song/game contains many tropes common to children’s rhymes/games: overpowering the teachers and getting out of school, getting the chance to play instead, and cruel school administrators that hurt the children, but who will receive their punishment (by having their dog killed and cooked). There are also a lot of children’s games that involve staying completely still, and the person who moves first losing and receiving some sort of punishment.

Multilingual Birthday Songs

Nationality: Mexico
Age: 48
Residence: Minnesota
Performance Date: April 2, 2017
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

(Interviewer’s additions are in italics.)

Well, since my wife is from Hong Kong… a lot of times at birthdays, family birthdays… because, back when we lived in Mexico, for birthdays, we’d sing “Happy Birthday” in Spanish… well, we’d sing “Las Mañanitas,” which is a Spanish birthday song… uh, but then we’d also sing “Happy Birthday” in Cantonese. [In traditional Chinese characters: 醒你生日快樂 ; pronounced in Cantonese, according to my informant’s wife, as “sing nei sung yuc fa lok.”] But since my wife was the only one who spoke Cantonese, we… we couldn’t get the words right, and to some of us it sounded like [to the tune of “Happy Birthday”], “La lasagna falló, la lasagna falló, la lasagna falló, la lasagna falló.” Which… in English, it means, “The lasagna failed.” And… it was just really funny, it made all our Mexican family laugh, it made the kids laugh… and so that’s how we always sang it… And we kept singing it this way until my sons started taking Chinese [Mandarin] classes in school… uh, we moved to Minnesota and they took Chinese [Mandarin] in school, Chinese immersion… and so they learned the Chinese [Mandarin] words to “Happy Birthday” [in simplified Chinese characters: 祝你生日快乐 ; pronounced in Mandarin as “zhu ni sheng ri kuai le”]… and for a while, we had them sing the Chinese [Mandarin] version of it… but then they, uh, they didn’t want to anymore… and now we usually just sing it in English, and… uh… and we still sing “Las Mañanitas” as well, but not any of the Chinese versions of it.

 

Thoughts:

The inclusion of a Cantonese version of “Happy Birthday” at this family’s birthday parties reveals my informant and his family to value multiculturalism and want to include this part of his wife’s culture into their celebrations. Yet, the warping of the lyrics also shows the overpowering of the majority culture/language (Spanish, and its misunderstanding of the Cantonese lyrics) taking precedence over the minority culture/language (Cantonese), and the appropriation and ultimate replacement of this minority language for humorous purposes.

Las Mañanitas

Nationality: Mexico
Age: 48
Occupation: Financial advisor
Residence: Minnesota
Performance Date: April 12, 2017
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Lyrics:

Estas son las mañanitas

Que cantaba el rey David

A las muchachas/los muchachos bonitos

Se las cantamos así

Despierta (nombre), despierta

Mira que ya amaneció

Ya los pajaritos cantan

La luna ya se metió

Translation:

This is the song of the morning

That King David sang

To the good-looking girls/boys

We sing it like this

Wake up (name), wake up

See that it has dawned

Now the little birds are singing

The moon has already set

 

Context: 

(In informant’s words:) “Las Mañanitas” is a Spanish song that we sing in Mexico on birthdays… I don’t know if they also sing it in other, uh… Latin American countries, but… we do it on everybody’s birthday in our family, and our friends in Mexico. And sometimes if we’re with close family, uh, like my parents or cousins or siblings, or in Mexico, there’s another verse that we sometimes… uh, add, which goes:

“Que linda está la mañana

En que vengo a saludarte

Venimos todos con gusto

Y placer a felicitarte

El día en que tú naciste

Nacieron todas las flores

En la pila del bautismo

Cantaron los ruiseñores

Ya viene amaneciendo

Ya la luz del día nos dio

Levántate de mañana

Mira que ya amaneció”

Translation:

“How lovely is the morning

On which I come to greet you

We’re all coming with relish

And pleasure to congratulate you

The day on which you were born

All the flowers were born

On the altar of baptism

Sang the nightingales

Now daybreak is coming

Now the light of day has reached us

Get up in the morning

See that it has dawned”

 

Thoughts:

It is interesting that this traditional birthday song revolves around the motif of morning and dawn to symbolize a new year of life for the birthday person, as well as other symbols of “new life” such as flowers and birds, which are also often used to represent springtime. It also contains images central to Christianity (King David, baptism), which is unsurprising for a song sung in a culture that is (traditionally) steeped in religion. This is, to my knowledge, the most common Spanish birthday song (perhaps now rivaled by a Spanish translation of the common English “Happy Birthday” song), and one that has, without fail, been sung at every single Mexican birthday I have attended, including my own.

 

Annotations:

For another version of the song (as well as videos of various performances) see:

“Las Mananitas.” Mexican Birthday Song, Explore Hispanic Culture, www.explore-hispanic-culture.com/las-mananitas.html.