NANNE di Corsica - LULLABIES of Corsica

As a great lover of the Corsican Nanne, and the Corsican music in general, I was very much pleased to hear, some years ago, Mrs Paule Tristani singing nanne for her grandchildren. It was in Santa-Maria-Poghju, where I stayed for a while. As I recognized the nanne, beautifully sung by Mrs. Tristani, I got acquainted with her and we spoke about the nanne and the Corsican music. Some time ago I got the CD Da l'Alturaghja from Anna Rocchi with Nanna. Then I heard the music programme on Radio Corse Frequenza Mora with Anna Rocchi and Isulatine, some weeks ago, singing a.o. lullabies of their CD Sogni d'Aprile. I was so enthousiastic that I made up my mind: I'll write an article about the nanne, the lullabies, and here it is!

HISTORY

With the nanne, the lullabies, Corsican children get acquainted with singing at a very early age. Without any doubt the most universal of folktraditions, the lullaby has the same function, very intimate, sung within the family, as everywhere else. Privilege of the mothers, grandmothers (and godmothers). The personal character of the trust in the child, hushing sounds, humming stories of today and the past,all known by oral tradition, became gradually classics. You find the hushing, affectionate surnames, not in singing their real names, but in sounds like culumbuccia (little dove), ciocciulecchju (little owl), ciucciarella (little one), that may suppose an essential sound character, whereas the information tend to the promises for luck and the more or less realistic wishes for abundance. There is less known about other stories and phonetics for children: the filastrocca, nursery rhyme, the fola, myth after real events, or the transfigured real history, the stalbatoghju.

People may be surprised that in some regions babies were hardly rocked to sleep.
In his Musiques Traditionnelles de Corse, Dominique Salini calls attention to the relationship mentioned by Wolfgang Laade in his studies about laments at funeral ceremonies, between the melody of the lullaby and that of this kind of lament. On the level of more consciousness there could be seen a parallel: sleep and death are partly related in the imagination, if not universal, than at least occidental.

You even find hate and violence in certain lullabies:

And then the curse:

Sometimes it was the only way to express their unhappiness.

Beautiful lullabies from the Corsican patrimony are full of tender emotions, some very old, like the Nanna di u Cuscioni (see the following history of some lullabies).

Lullabies full of love, lullabies from the Mediterranean area, from all times.
Humming, singing about love, dreams, but also of sorrow due to the wars, loneliness, misunderstanding and oppression. Rocking the child on the rythm of the viculu, the cradle.

Glorious lullabies, also full of hope, full of love for the little child Jesus, in passionate faith.
An emotional honour to innocence and the future " You are the renewal of mankind. Child, you are the gold of the world".

Finally you can say that the lullaby is part of daily experience, it is a song with an initiating value. Promoting the sociability of the child, introducing it in the community and then, by singing about allusions to histories in the past, receiving it in the family.
But what seems the most important, is undoubtedly the undefatigable repeating of that melody, that creates a "habitus sonore" for the child, thus making him familiar with a special musical system, preparing him to a combination of sounds, ... a language.

If you might think that lullabies aren’t sung anymore today: Corsican children are so lucky to still hear them.

The group Isulatine was so kind to let me know, that they were brought up with lullabies, even sung by their father. They still sing them for their children(and other children) and the little grandson has the same joy. He is rocked to sleep, not only by his parents, but by his grandmother as well!

 

NAMES OF LULLABIES:
Nanna di u Cuscione Sott'a lu Ponte Nanna d'Aïtone Nanna di Zia Grazi Nanna di u Cuscinu Nanna di u Setanta Ciuccarella Dormi Dormi par Pena A Ricchezza Nanninna la mia diletta		For the little child Jesus: a.o. from the Lira Sacra Nanne à Ghjesù Re di u Mondu Nanna di u Bambinu Dormi Dormi Bel Bambin Ninni Nanna Adeste Fideles Venite Adoriamo Tu Scendi da le Stelle Chì Vol Vedere di Mezzanotte il Sole

 

Groups of singers, only lullabies: Caramusa: CD Nanni è Natali Tradiziunali di l'Isula di Corsica A Cumpagnia: CD Nanne di Corsica
Other groups, singers, composers: Maurice Ravel I Muvrini Canta u Populu Corsu Canti Corsi in Tradizione Diana di l'Alba A Ricuccata I Corsi Isulatine Anna Rocchi Mighela Cesari Jacky Micaelli Jean-Paul Poletti A Filetta	Also with their own compositions: I Muvrini Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses/Soledonna Petru Guelfucci Isulatine All with their so much valued composers and musiciens. To those I forgot to mention and to appreciate, I do apologize!

HISTORY OF THE FOLLOWING LULLABIES:

Nanna di u Cuscione
Without any doubt the Nanna di u Cuscioni is the most famous of Corsican lullabies. It has generally seven strophes, in which the grandmother, pursuing her dream of the future, describes the ceremony of the wedding to the little girl. Poetry, brilliant in it's simplicity, where reality and wishes of consideration are mingled.
On the " I go to prepare supper and sew the cloaks..." follows "we will give you a husband ... a very good catch, whom the men of the mountains will recognize as their chief..."
Some tens of musical versions of this lullaby exist, all over Corsica, proof of its popularity, and the inventiveness of Corsican people.
(Mighele Raffaelli and Ghjermana de Zerbi chose fourteen of them for their anthology of Corsican singing).

Certainly one of the most archaic forms of Corsican singing. The composer Iannis Xenakis ascribes a pre-Christian origin to this music. Recent discoveries on Crete found systems of script of music, which reveal songs that approach very much the melody of this lullaby.

Sott'a lu Ponte
Borrowing and old melody, called "Corsicana", which is to be found in the tradition of Northern Sardinia, a composer from Nice, Théo Lacuire, and Corsican poet-writer Petru-Santu Leca, created this lullaby at the Secondary School of Ajaccio in 1920. It was a satirical protest against the War of 1914-18.
The mother rocks her little daughter; the father will never return from the front.

Dormi per Pena
There isn’t so much known about the history. The rumour goes about a mother, who hid her husband, who was looked for, in the cradle. But that isn’t sure.

Anna Rocchi Music sample Extrait musical Nanna di u Cuscione

Jacky Micaelli Music sample Extrait musical Sottu a lu ponte

Isulatine Music sample Extrait musical Dormi per pena

Texts:

Nanna di u Cuscione		Lullaby of Cuscione
Ne li monti di Cuscione Ci era nata una zitella E' lu so cara mammona Li faccia la nannarella E quand'ella l'annannava Stu talentu li pricava Addurmentati parpena Allecrezza di mammoni Chì aghju da allestì la cena E' da cosge li piloni Pà u to tintu babbarellu E' pà li to fratillonni Quandu andarete spusata Purtarete li frineri N'andarete incavalcciata Cù tutti li mugliaccheri Passarete insannicciata A' caramusa imbuffata	Quandu arrivarete à lu stazzu Duve avete po da stà ne Surtarà la suciarona E' vi tuccarà la manu E' vi sarà prisintatu Un tinellu di caghjatu Vi daremu lu maritu Allivatu à lu stazzale Un billissimu partitu E' sarà lu capurale Di li nostri muntagnoli Picuraghji è capraghjoli	On the hills of Cuscione A little girl was born And her dear grandmother Cradled her tenderly These are the wishes She made as she rocked her Sleep a little Grandmother's joy For I must prepare the supper And sew cloaks For your poor little father And for your big brothers When you get married You will carry the distaffs You will ride in majesty On horseback with the Men of honour To the sound of bagpipes playing	When you arrive at the sheepcot That will become your home Your mother-in-law will meet you And take you by the hand And will present you With a bucket of clotted milk You will have as husband A man raised amongst the shepherds A very good catch Who will be the chief Of our mountain folk The sheep and goatkeepers
Text and translation: CD Canti Corsi in Tradizione Sung by: Anna Rocchi (from the CD Caramusa: Nanni è Natali Tradiziunali di l'Isula di Corsica)

Sottu à lu Ponte	Underneath the bridge
Sott'à lu ponte ci luce la luna E stelle in celu ù ne mancu mancuna Dormi In li castagni si lagna lu ventu U nostro lume sarà prestu spentu Dormi Ind'una casa - ma quale sarà! - Batte lu stacciu è senti cantà Dormi U ghjattu maiò s'alliscia u mustacciu	Above the bridge the moon beams Not a single star is missing Sleep sleep The wind moans in the chestnut groves The lamp is soon to go out Sleep sleep In a house - but who can it be - ? The sieve and a song Sleep sleep The faithful old Tom cat sleeks his whiskers
Pianta la voce, si cheta lu stacciu Dormi Sò cinque mesi chì no semu sole A guerra hà pigliatu i babbi à e figliole	The sieve stops, the voice breaks off Sleep sleep We have been alone now for five months The war has wrested their father from little girls
Mi frighje lu core, ùn ne possu più Lascia piegne à mè, sta notte, ma tù Dormi	My heart breaks and I am exhausted Let me weep all my sorrow tonight But you, child, sleep
Text and translation: Petru Santu Leca - A Cumpagnia: Nanne di Corsica
Sung by: Jacky Micaelli (from her CD Amor'esca)

Dormi per pena	Sleep a little
Dormi per pena in lu to viculellu Ch'eiu fia coce e buchje à u purcellu Per ch'ellu sia in natale U spavechju di u lucale	Sleep a little in your cradle That I can cook the peelings for the pig So that he will be at Christmas The surprise of the village
A lu serviziu diventerai sargente In permissione ci venerai suvente Per fà vede i to galloni Ninni nanna e mio speranze	As a soldier you will be a sergeant You will often come on leave To show your galloons Little baby, child of my hope
Tutte le donne ti cannuchjuleranu E per maritu tutte ti vularanu Sceglierai a più garbata Ninni nanna inzucherata	All the women will look at you And all of them will want to marry you Choose the nicest one My sweet little baby
Ghjanettu Natini Arr.: Antoinette d'Angeli Translation in French: Antoinette d'Angeli Translation in English: Yvonne Peters Sung by Isulatine from their CD Sogni d'Aprile

Postscript
I do hope you will find joy and happiness in listening to the Corsican nanne. That you will even sing them for your own babies and grandchildren or other beloved children.
And for Christmas time: the songs for the Child Jesus are sung everywhere and make people happy!

Sources:

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