The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #46361 Message #2116983
Posted By: GUEST,Paul F. Anderson
01-Aug-07 - 08:50 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Oleanna (Ditmar Meidel, Norway, 1853)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oleanna as by the Gateway Singers
CORRECTIONS Blegen's book was published in 1936. Silverman only translated 19 of the 22 verses.
THEODORE C. BLEGEN Theodore C. Blegen (1891-1969) was born in Minneapolis. He was a professor of history and the dean of the graduate school at the University of Minnesota, a professor of history at Hamline University, and a superintendent of the Minnesota Historical Society. Blegen Hall on the U of M's West Bank campus is named after him.
ANNE-CHARLOTTE HARVEY In 1972 Swedish-born singer Anne-Charlotte Harvey recorded a bilingual version of Oleanna. The five verses were sung first in Norwegian (Meidell) and then in English (Seeger).
OLEANNA BIBLIOGRAPHY 1936 Norwegian Emigrant Songs and Ballads - Theodore C. Blegen 1944 Grass Roots Magazine - Theodore C. Blegen 1959 Sing Out Reprints - Pete Seeger 1960 Folksongs and Footnotes - Theodore Bikel 1960 Folk Songs of North America - Alan Lomax 1992 Mel Bay's Immigrant Songbook - Jerry Silverman
OLEANNA DISCOGRAPHY 1955 Folk Songs of Four Continents - Pete Seeger 1956 With Voices Together We Sing - Pete Seeger 1958 Songs of the North Star State - Gene Bluestein 1958 At the hungry i - Gateway Singers 1959 Folk Songs From Just About Everywhere - Theodore Bikel 1959 Here We Go Again - The Kingston Trio 1972 Memories of Snoose Boulevard - Anne-Charlotte Harvey
OLEANNA'S RHYMES The Norwegian lyrics for Oleanna have two syllable rhymes: væ-re / bæ-re. Theodore C. Blegen's translation follows that pattern: door-way / Nor-way. Pete Seeger's verses have one syllable rhymes: go / so. This is also true of versions that are partly based on Seeger's work: Gateway Singers, Bikel and Lomax. Silverman's translation has two syllable rhymes and one syllable rhymes.
OLEANNA AT SMITHSONIAN GLOBAL SOUND The albums by Seeger and Bluestein are available at the web site below. One can listen to sound clips or download the songs at 99 cents each. The liner notes can be downloaded — free of charge — as PDF files. They contain commentary on Oleanna as well as the lyrics.
http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/
THE BALLAD OF OLEANA: A VERSE TRANSLATION BY THEODORE C. BLEGEN