We went out to see Cedric (Watson) and looking for the right clip I found this historic one, from 1986, of people and dancehalls that are no longer. Geno (Delafose) is on it even younger than when I first saw him and besides those two there are other musicians and bands who were children or … More Bijou Créole
Now it is the second day of Christmas, so the season is getting going. You who believe Christmas is over, remember those Three Wise Men have only just begun their journey. There is frost here in Maringouin. It is easy to celebrate a Danish Christmas in person, but it is much more difficult virtually. In … More 2. juledag: Højt fra træets grønne top
This is the very most important Danish Christmas song. I cannot find a Danish performance of it I like enough, so we will play it in the original Latin. Here it is in Danish, in a nice Renaissance style that is surely appropriate, and here is Tony Holm singing it with the tune I know. … More Et barn er født i Bethlehem
It just would turn out that Child was an American and was late 19th century. It also just would be the case that he collected things that had already been collected and has been said to have a third eye or sixth sense that enabled him to ensure that what he collected was truly old. … More Francis James Child
At last I have found this skjaldesang, a medieval ballad I have been looking for for years. It is apparently not medieval, though it may sound so. The melody is old, but the words are nineteenth century and the author is Grundtvig. It is a nationalistic and pedagogical text nostalgic for the time of Kings … More Skjaldesang
I am still looking for all the right Scandinavian, but especially Danish carols, but many good recordings are Norwegian. Here is the choir of Oslo Cathedral, with an old photograph on which you can see a tree with real candles. They have candles on the pews in church on Christmas Eve, too. I have already … More Dejlig er jorden
I woke up this morning excited to keep reading about that utterly strange planet, Spain. One of the things I do not like about working here at Vichy State is that there is not enough context here to be a Hispanist and I have no colleagues to speak of; my best colleagues, really, are the … More Dejlig er den himmel blå
This is to get over reading about the Inquisition, which was abolished in 1834. These people here are not Catholic, and are thus in a position to provide relief. Axé.
Now that it is winter, we can discuss Christmas. Here is a recording from Copenhagen, 1975, and I see am going to have to go into town and attend some sessions at the Spotted Cat. Hattie, on whose blog I cannot post reliably, is going to send me some Danish DVDs and I may have … More Santa Claus Blues
I now see why I have had these Moustaki song fragments floating through my head all semester: when I was my exchange student’s age I also lived in France, and it was Moustaki songs that floated out of the cafés in the Rue Mouffetard. This song is about the Mediterranean spring and García Lorca would … More Ahora que es primavera
coldhearted scientist وداد 