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I love the Italian language. One summer in the early 70s, I took an eight-week evening Italian class with my friends Kevin (a vocal coach, opera coach, choir director, and teacher) and Stuart (a soprano friend who was one of Kevin's students). The other class members were retired Italian Americans who had lost their native language through striving to fit into U.S. society. The class was a refresher course to prepare them for visiting relatives in Italy. We were a motley group.
As I said, I love Italian. Both Kevin and Stuart had a greater knowledge than I did because of years of working in opera. But I was a quick enough study and kept up with the class. For the final class of the term, the three of us presented a song. Together we translated "Home on the Range" into Italian. Kevin wrote out a three-part harmony version of it (Stuart at the top, me as alto, and Kevin as tenor). Our performance was spectacular. The singing was in tune, our accents were impeccable, and our classmates were dumbfounded that anyone (any three) would devote themselves to such a silly project.
Here is our translation. You can sing along to the tune of "Home on the Range." For maximum effect, be sure to trill your r's and exaggerate all double consonants. I am attaching Kevin's actual arrangement in case you have a couple of friends who like to harmonize. You'll sound like the Andrews Sisters.
O da'mi un dimora dove vagano i bufali,
Dove scherzano i cervi e i daini.
Dove non senti mai un scoraggiante parole,
E il cielo non e oscuro tutto il giorno.
La, la, sul tratto
Dove giocano i cervi e i daini
Dove non senti mai un scoraggiante parole,
E il cielo non e oscuro tutto il giorno.
Musings blog: http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com
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