Riu, Riu Chiu...

My choir, EVMCO, is gathering together again for a Christmas concert and it is going to be all about Bethlehem and the Savior's birth. We are going to be singing a new Spanish song I have never even heard of. The song is called Riu, Riu, Chiu and my group is going to be singing two verses of it. Here are the lyrics in the way we are doing it in the concert:

(First verse we are singing, third verse in the song)

Yovi mil garzones, que'andavan cantando,

Por aqui volando hacienda mil sones,

Diciendo a gascones gloria sea'en el cielo,

Y path en el suelo pues Jesus nasciera.

(Chorus)

Riu, Riu, Chiu, la guarda ribera,

Dios gaurdo el lobo, de nuestra cordera,

Riu, Riu, Chiu, la guarda ribera,

Dios guardo el lobo, de nuestra cordera.

(Second verse for us to sing, fifth verse in the song)

Pues que ya tenemos lo que deseamos,

Todos juntos vamos presents llevemos,

Todos la daremos nuestra voluntad,

Pues a se'gualar con el hombre viniera.

If you do not speak Spanish, you will have to plop somebody down in front of your computer to translate... I only speak beginner's Spanish. But one night, I asked my Spanish-speaking dad to come and make sure I knew all my Spanish for the concert, and as soon as I started singing, he shouted "WHO WROTE THIS?!?!" I told him, confused, that my directors had written it, and I asked him what was the matter. He exclaimed that all the spelling was wrong. He showed me the text, and pointed out the mistakes. I had giggled and told him, "I guess they don't know how write Spanish. HA!" I think it's too late to get tickets for the concert because they're ALL SOLD OUT!!!!!! My mom showed me one day, and I went absolutely, positively nuts. They were all sold out?? At the BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER??? I was totally shocked. So was my mom. This will be the first concert that my youngest brother brother will sing in, so we were very excited. I have got one other sister and this is her third concert. She is very excited and giddy for the big days to come as well. (We are doing two concerts, one on the second of December, and one on the third.). WE ARE ALL SO EXCITED!!!! MY WHOLE FAMILY IS EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!

George Gershwin: Amazing American/Russian Composer

One Amazing Composer

Hello. This is Miss Penguin coming to you live from New York City and the scoop today is George Gershwin. One of his compositions, Rhapsody in Blue, has become one of the most popular works in the country. George Gershwin’s life might seem boring and unimportant at first sight, but when you take a look inside, you wouldn’t believe that his life was so interesting.

When George Gershwin was born, he was named Jacob Gershowitz. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and he was the second of four children. At age ten, George went to his friend’s violin recital. He was astonished by the way his friend played his violin and George wanted to find out more about music. His older brother Ira had a piano and George learned to play it. His parents tried to get him a piano teacher for two years, but when it didn’t work out, George ended up being taught by composers.

He got his first musical training at age thirteen. At age fifteen, George left school to study music. He got his first job as a performer at Tin Pan Alley and this job got George fifteen dollars a week. Within three years, he had seen his first song published, “When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em, And When You’ve Got ‘Em, You Don’t Want ‘Em.” This song was published when George was seventeen years old and earned him five dollars.

In 1924, George composed his first major classical work and it was called Rhapsody in Blue. It proved to be his most popular work. When George was finally a famous composer, he changed his family name from Gershowitz to Gershwin. George’s most ambitious composition was Porgy and Bess and yet another composition called Swanee brought George his real fame. When George was twenty-five years old, Rhapsody in Blue premiered in New York’s Aeoliah Hall at the concert “Experiment in Music”, along with the songs An American in Paris and Piano Concerto in F. When George was 38, he was complaining of terrible headaches and also thought that he smelled burned rubber. George died of a brain tumor and is now buried at Westchester Hills Cemetery, New York.
Thank you for joining us today to listen to Gershwin’s life story, life events, and about the compositions that he wrote. Next week, George Gershwin will share some of his most popular operas, songs, and compositions outside of the Aeoliah Hall.