Re: Dietrich, como, unusual suspects

[Sylvia Schildt <creativa...>]

Re: Dona Dona

The song also gained folk scene currency through the English translation,
which was penned by Arthur Kevess (I think it's in one of the Izzy Young's
Books - forget the name for the moment - I think "Sound Off" or something
like that.) In any case the song in Kevess's English version pops up in some
church singalongs and other surprising places. Original Yiddish of course by
the great Aaron Zeitlin.

My late husband, the Dutch folksinger Frank Schildt (Folkways-Smithsonian -
Songs of Love, Play and Protest)  collaborated with him on this and a German
song "Kommeraden" in several interminable sessions to help make his
translations singable. PS - Songs of Love, Play and Protest available in
remastered CD form from the Smithsonian. It contains among its international
array, a rendition of Afn Pripitchuk, Die Gedanken Sind Frei and the rarely
heard anti-war song banned by Hitler - Immer Marschiren.


Sylvia Schildt



on 9/27/02 12:23 AM, Robert Cohen at rlcm17 (at) hotmail(dot)com wrote:

>> more unlikely Jewish music...I have a recording of Joan Baez singing Dona
>> Dona Dona
> 
> You and zillions of others!--It was on what was, when released, the
> largest-selling LP by a woman singer in history:  Joan's first album for
> Vanguard.  (Subsequently exceeded by Carole King's TAPESTRY and since then
> exceeded again.)  I'm not sure this is that unlikely though; we've discussed
> Dona on this list and, though I continue to think that Joan's recording
> almost single-handedly made the song a world-wide folk song, it evidently
> had some folk currency before she recorded it.  In fact, it definitely
> did--since it was, I have been told, a New England folk singer (almost
> certainly not Jewish and, anyway, not in a Jewish role) who introduced her
> to the song, which I think he knew from a published (sheet music) version
> (in translation, obviously).
> 
> --Robert Cohen
> 
> 
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