Stranded in the USA: Early Songs of Emigration
2006; Volume: 9; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2056-6166
Autores Tópico(s)Cuban History and Society
ResumoStranded in the USA: Early Songs of Emigration Compiled and annotated by Christoph Wagner. CD. Trikont US-0326, 2004. [pounds sterling]12.99. In the wake of a UK general election in which the question of immigration featured prominently in some campaigning, here is a release that offers food for thought. Between the verses of 'When Midnight Comes' recorded by the Kapudji Brothers' Tamburitza Orchestra in Chicago in 1942, a song rich in Old World melody and harmony, we can enjoy some wonderful jazz-influenced solos by the excellent fiddler Bela Balog. Larry Alpert's 'Galiziana Ball', recorded a decade later, takes it a stage further, integrating both English and Yiddish lyrics into a wild klezmer arrangement, clearly based on 'The Darktown Strutters Ball'. These are just two examples of how this disc illustrates the USA's unparalleled role as musical melting pot. The way in which men and women from so many countries contributed richly to the development of American music, while at the same time drawing deeply on it, stands as a useful metaphor for the impact of immigration on a host culture. At the same time, the lyrics throughout this anthology reflect immigrants' experiences--both positive and negative--of encountering their new home for the first time; the songs may be historical, but the experience is no doubt still familiar to many. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There is, of course, no immigration without emigration, no departure without a leaving behind, and the songs included look at the question from a variety of angles. One is that represented by songs such as 'A Norwegian Emigrant Arrives in the USA' (Little Oscar's Gang, 1952), 'The Immigrant's First Difficulties' (Arthur Arkadias Kylander, 1928), and A Puerto Rican Peasant in New York' (Conjunto Tipico Ladi, 1947). These are largely light-hearted in treatment, unlike Gaytan y Cantu's 'La Discriminacion', or Alfredo Bascetti's passionate song about Sacco and Vanzetti, who were sentenced to death, on little or no evidence, in a climate that demonized them for being immigrant aliens almost as much as for being anarchists. There are also songs that tell of the misery of departure, such as 'Fado do Emigrante' (Antonio Menano, 1935), and there is a heart-breaking tale 'O Gero Amerikanos' (Dimitris Perdicopoulos, mid-1930s) about a young man in Greece who loses his bride-to-be to an elderly man who has made his fortune in America. Musically, all this offers almost bewildering diversity, and while inevitably some tracks are more readily appealing than others, that scarcely seems to be the point in considering a compilation that offers so much of historical and cultural interest, and that has been so effectively illustrated and annotated. …
Referência(s)