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Before "The Carol of the Bells", the melody was a Ukrainian folk song of hope for the future.

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fascinating - I have heard her videos before and forgotten about them off to youtube!
 
Beautiful song but I found the English words to be a little odd. I suppose a little something was lost in translation.
 
Thanks for that, Tom. Traditional Ukranian Christmas song, performed in the Uki church during Christmas.

As an aside, hunt up "The Ukranian Dancers of Miami." Many of my in-laws and their kids were part of that troupe over the last couple generations.

It seems as if there is less and less interest from the latest generation. Really a shame, too.
 
Doc - note that the Ukrainian song wasn't originally a Christmas song, but a wish for a prosperous new year.

Saw a bit on the news last night, about a large group of Ukrainian singers this weekend, performing it at Carnegie Hall, where it was first performed in the USA in I think 1919.
 
NutmegCT said:
Doc - note that the Ukrainian song wasn't originally a Christmas song, but a wish for a prosperous new year.

Saw a bit on the news last night, about a large group of Ukrainian singers this weekend, performing it at Carnegie Hall, where it was first performed in the USA in I think 1919.
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Indeed, but, I am especially with Walter on this - strange lyrics or strange translation. (OTOH my brother sings scottish folk tunes and many folk tunes from many places have strange lyrics) :ROFLMAO:
 
That's a common problem with translations. It's never quite the same meaning as the original, and is often done just to get the words to fit the melody.

Here's another translation. Maybe Doc understands the original Ukrainian?

Bountiful evening, bountiful evening, a New Year's carol;
A little swallow flew into the household
and started to twitter,
to summon the master:
"Come out, come out, O master,
look at the sheep pen,
there the ewes have given birth
and the lambkins have been born
Your goods [livestock] are great,
you will have a lot of money, by selling them.
You have a dark-eyebrowed beautiful wife
If not money, then chaff from all the grain you will harvest
you have a dark-eyebrowed beautiful wife."
 
NutmegCT said:
That's a common problem with translations. It's never quite the same meaning as the original, and is often done just to get the words to fit the melody.

Here's another translation. Maybe Doc understands the original Ukrainian?

Bountiful evening, bountiful evening, a New Year's carol;
A little swallow flew into the household
and started to twitter,
to summon the master:
"Come out, come out, O master,
look at the sheep pen,
there the ewes have given birth
and the lambkins have been born
Your goods [livestock] are great,
you will have a lot of money, by selling them.
You have a dark-eyebrowed beautiful wife
If not money, then chaff from all the grain you will harvest
you have a dark-eyebrowed beautiful wife."
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Those small changes make the song much more clear.

I was curious what having a wife had to do with getting the coin or the chaff in the youtube version.
 
NutmegCT said:
That's a common problem with translations. It's never quite the same meaning as the original, and is often done just to get the words to fit the melody.

Here's another translation. Maybe Doc understands the original Ukrainian?
Click to expand...
Doc definitely does not understand Ukrainian. The distaff side does, though. My genetic background is half Italian. Don't understand much of that either!

Mitsy and her brother in a photo her Uki dad (RIP) kept in his wallet:

MnR_697sm.JPG
 
I would imagine an exact translation wouldn't fit the rhythm and melody of the song. I had trouble explaining to a choir mate the difference between the exact translation and a poetic translation. I have taught my choir to sing in the origanal langauge and added a translation in the program. Alliteration, puns, and figures of speech don't translate so well.
 
Trevor Triumph said:
I would imagine an exact translation wouldn't fit the rhythm and melody of the song. I had trouble explaining to a choir mate the difference between the exact translation and a poetic translation. I have taught my choir to sing in the origanal langauge and added a translation in the program. Alliteration, puns, and figures of speech don't translate so well.
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Many years ago in a much less politcally correct time I had a Bible prof explain that translations are like women: If they are faithful they aren't beautiful and if they are beautiful they aren't faithful. :rolleyes2:
 
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