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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Joe Offer Date: 07 Jun 20 - 05:19 AM Well, heck, Martin, nice to have you back! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: GUEST Date: 07 Jun 20 - 05:18 AM I will briefly de-lurk to point out the connection to another thread here on 'Johhny Schmoker', written and composed by George F Root in 1863. This was written as a pastiche on German-American song and can be found on YouTube sung by American choirs. My interest comes from the fact that, as 'Johnny Smoker', it was one of the songs sung by the Sapperton Mummers in Gloucestershire at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries. Alf Cobb, whose father had sung the song, was recorded by John Baldwin in 1969, and the song is in the Folk Music Journal for that year. The connection between this and 'I am the music man' had puzzled me until I found the trail from Germany to America, then as a parlour or music hall song to a small Gloucestershire village. Martin Graebe (who forgot to sign back in) |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Monique Date: 25 Jul 16 - 12:43 PM The song is supposed to have originated in Silesia, at least according to what it reads here. I have a couple of German kids songbooks that state the same. There's a French version and a Dutch version as well. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: GUEST,silver Date: 25 Jul 16 - 06:21 AM Gosh, I have know this song almost all my life, and always believed it was Swedish! From the very province where I live, to boot! Vi äro musikanter allt ifrån Skaraborg (twice), Vi kan spela fio-lio-lio-lej, vi kan spela basfiol och flöjt. Och vi kan dansa bomfaderalla, bomfaderalla, bomfaderalla, vi kan dansa bomfaderalla, bomfaderallan-lej. (Popular for dancing around the Midsummer pole, among other things.) |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: keberoxu Date: 24 Jul 16 - 07:03 PM Girl Scout Camp! All the troop leaders would come together and, instead of leading the Scouts, they would act this out FOR the entertainment of the Scouts, with lousy German accents. Ick ein guten Doktor come from Ger-ma-la, Ick kann spielen auf der Pi-A-No, and all the other instruments. My outstanding memory of their performance, is that the stout middle-aged troop leader, who was leading the other leaders, by accident spat off the fake mustache attached somehow to her upper lip, on the fatal phrase: Ick kann spielen auf der T-U-Ba! It was the capital T's fault. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: GUEST,Claire Date: 19 Mar 12 - 12:17 PM i cant remember exactly but my nan taught me this when i was a little girl there are a few verses this is all i remember... A wonderful musician, in germany did dwell, his name was unprenounceable, impossible to spell the neighbours did complain hed be making such a such a din??? youd hear him in the morning at daybreak he'd begin ........... they woke up with a fright to find that he'd been playin in the middle of the night on.. the...(VERSE) big drum, little drum,fiddle fyfe, piccolo, piano, harp, harmonio, many more besides. french horn sax horn, double base, trombone tambourine banjo bones and knocky-clyde. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: GUEST,Guest, girl scout Date: 26 Nov 11 - 12:26 PM The version I learned is in a mixture of probably-mispronounced German and English. Looking at this, I think it's supposed to be kann, not vann. It goes: I am the German condor, I come from Stivenland. (girls repeat) Ich vann spiela, (repeat) on my viola. (repeat) Vio-vio-vio-la, vio-la, vio-la, vio-vio-vio-la, vio-vio-la. Then repeat the verse, but say "piana" instead of "viola", and go Plinka-plinka-plinka-plink, plinka-plink, plinka-plink, plinka-plinka-plinka-plink, plinka-plinka-plink,oh (breath), vio-vio-vio-la, vio-la, vio-la, vio-vio-vio-la, vio-vio-la. Each time the verse is repeated, a new instrument is added onto the beginning of the instrument part: tuba: umpa-umpa, um-pa-pa commercial: soapy-soapy-soapy suds, soapy-soapy-soapy suds, soapy-soapy-soapy suds, soapy soapy suds The final time, the insturment is "on my orchestra", and everyone just sings their favorite instrument. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: GUEST,girl scout leader Date: 28 Apr 11 - 03:03 PM German Condor (Leader) I am German condor, I come from Striderland. (Girls) You are a German condor, you come from Striderland. (Leader) Ich von speilen (Girls) Duetsch von speilen (Leader) On my piano (Girls) On your piano… (All) Plinka-plinka-plinka-plink, plinka-plink, plinka-plink, plinka-plinka-plinka-plink, plinka-plinka-plink, HEY! Repeat with: Viola: vio-vio-viola Bagpipes: nee-ner-nee-ner-nee Tuba: Umpa-umpa-um-pa-pa |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE WONDERFUL MUSICIAN (Greenaway/Davies) From: Jim Dixon Date: 02 Oct 10 - 10:15 PM Here are the lyrics to the song Joe linked to at The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music: THE WONDERFUL MUSICIAN (Words, Walter Greenaway. Music, Vincent Davies) London : Wood & Co, 1871. 1. A wonderful musician once in Germany did dwell, His name quite unpronounceable, impossible to spell. He could play on any instrument, no matter great of small. This wonderful musician, he could play upon them all. SPOKEN: Of course it would be quite impossible for me to enumerate all the instruments he could play, but among a few I may mention— CHORUS: A big drum, a kettledrum, the fiddle, flute, and piccolo, Piano, harp, harmonium, and many more beside. A French horn, a sax horn, a trombone, and double bass, Bones, banjo, tambourine, bassoon, and ophicleide. 2. He only had a little room upon the second floor, And very little room indeed he had, you may be sure. He had no chairs or table, no sofa and no bed. He said he didn't want 'em, for of course he had instead— 3. The neighbors used to grumble for he would make such a din. At daybreak every morning to practice he'd begin, And sometimes from their slumbers they'd awake in such a fright, For often he'd be playing in the middle of the night— 4. One night there was a fearful noise. they heard it far and near. Many thought it was an earthquake and many quaked with fear. Everybody thought, of course, something shocking had occurred. They all stood shaking in the street and then distinctly heard— 5. Of course they very soon found out the cause of all the riot. They heard another dreadful crash then everything was quiet. They found the old musician had blown all his breath away In trying if he all at once his instruments could play— |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 04 Dec 07 - 12:12 AM Sorry for the time delay in replying, Garg - I live in Brisbane. I also can take trips, (on the road type!) and borrow a friend's PC occasionally when away, so don't always look in every day to check every thread! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: GUEST,crazyfamily Date: 03 Dec 07 - 01:34 PM I know a slightly different version of this song that my family sings on holidays i was looking for it online and "I am a fine musician" seems to be the closest thing" but the one I know goes In a small town in germany there lived a shoemaker and his name was Schumann And he played the piccolo picca-picca-picca lo picca-lo picca-lo and then big bass drum, big tuba, clarinet, etc does anyone else know this version? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Wilfried Schaum Date: 26 Sep 07 - 11:34 AM Thanks, CB, for this wonderful link to Dick Van Dyke |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Snuffy Date: 26 Sep 07 - 08:27 AM "kazoo" "auf Deutsch." |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: ClaireBear Date: 25 Sep 07 - 11:56 AM Here's a link to the Dick Van Dyke Show performance on YouTube: "I Am a Fine Musician" |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Genie Date: 25 Sep 07 - 03:33 AM Foolsestroupe, I was wondering how you say "kazoo" "auf Deutsch." ;-D G |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 24 Sep 07 - 09:50 PM Fool - I thought you were mainland UK
How close to Sydney are you?
A delightful, rolicking, song-collecting cadre of runners/singers/drinkers will be meeting in Sydney - could you house - say 20 of us in March 2008?
Sincerely, |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 24 Sep 07 - 09:31 PM This is one of my favourite songs. It was around in the 1950s, when I fell in love with it here in Oz. It's a great 'community song' - can even work the kazoo into it! :-P |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ich Bin Ein' Musikante From: Genie Date: 24 Sep 07 - 09:17 PM Good to find this thread, as I have an Oktoberfest program to do soon and I wanted to add a song or two. We used to sing this song, in (fractured) German when I was a kid at camp, but I had little idea what the words meant (except for words like "piano" and "violine"). In fact, though we were taught to sing "Ich kann spiele ... auf der piano," it usually came out "Ick can speela ... after piano," etc. I always thought it was "Musikanter," not "Musikante," too. This is a good audience participation song for kids, or for some nursing home residents, too. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Flash Company Date: 14 Jan 06 - 09:46 AM Billy Cotton Band Show (Wakey-WAKEEE) I am the music man, I come from down your way, And I can play-ay, I play piano Pi-pi-pi-pi-piano, piano, piano Pi-pi-pi-pi-piano, pi-pi-piano Then through various instruments, ending with:- I am the music man, and every time I play, My Hurdy-gurdy, I get the birdie Um-pa um-pa um-pa-pa......Etc, God I am getting old! FC |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: GUEST,david@graphicgranola.com Date: 14 Jan 06 - 02:03 AM I believe that the first RECORDED version of "The Musicians" was on the Young People's Records label in 1949. That version was an adaptation for two singers and guitar accompaniment. Soon thereafter, Tom Glazer adapted it for four singers and small orchestra; that version was recorded by the quartet of Dinah Shore / Tony Martin / Betty Hutton / Phil Harris and issued on RCA Victor in 1951. In the 1960s, the Glazer version was performed on the Dick Van Dyke Show (on two different episodes). The recording of the Shore group was issued on CD in 1997 (Dinah Shore, Fascination, BMG 44507-2). |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Joe Offer Date: 29 Oct 05 - 03:10 PM Hi, Bosshorn - the melody I learned as a kid in Milwaukee was this one (click) - once you get to the page, click on "melodie" (or click here). We also have two MIDI tunes - follow the links at the tip of this thread. Then, of course, you need to learn how to convert a MIDI to notation. I hope you're able to do that. -Joe Offer (e-mail sent)- |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: GUEST,Bosshorn@gmail.com Date: 28 Oct 05 - 11:01 PM I'm seeking the melody and harmony parts to the various instruments mentioned in "I am a Fine Musician." I have the words, I just need the notes so we can sing it at a reunion. |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: GUEST Date: 19 Mar 04 - 03:29 AM |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Joe Offer Date: 04 Dec 02 - 03:25 AM Hi, Wilfried - the way I've heard it sung, the various sounds of the various instruments are sung all at the same time, but the first part is sung in unison. Thanks for offering to send your CD (Gets on Everybody's Nerves), Seamus, but I bought it at your concert in the Sacramento area last year. I do a lot of singing for kids, so I had to see what songs I could steal from you. It's a fine album. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Wilfried Schaum Date: 04 Dec 02 - 02:36 AM open mike - no, dear friend, academic laws did everything to disencourage students from finding merriment while drinking - in my country, too. We encouraged ourselves in spite of the laws. Be content, you are not born in the wrong country. So fill your bumper and take a good gulp for drinking, singing, and the girls! Wilfried |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: open mike Date: 03 Dec 02 - 01:26 PM students are encouraged to find merriment while drinking?? I was born in the wrong country!! |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Wilfried Schaum Date: 03 Dec 02 - 10:10 AM open mike - the song you are giving is known in Germany well, too. Every verse has its own melody according to the character of its instrument. Contrary to "I am a fine musician", however, the stanzas are not sung one after another but at the same time, as a piece of four voices, so giving the impression of a small band playing synchronically. I enjoyed it very much in my youth with my scout troop. It also can be found in a couple of student song books for merriment while drinking. Wilfried. |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Seamus Kennedy Date: 03 Dec 02 - 03:47 AM Joe, good to see you a while ago here in MD. I was unable for technical reasons to get the tune of Alison's version.But I'm willing to bet that it's the same tune. Alison (bless her!) and I have a lot of Belfast stuff in common. I'll send you a copy of my kid's CD and you can figure it out! I don't do MIDI or any of that stuff; I'm primordial for God's sake! If you want to add my version to the DT feel free. But it's a great,fun song for people of all ages. Seamaus |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: open mike Date: 03 Dec 02 - 02:04 AM this reminds me of another tune- which has in it: the clarinet, the clarinet, goes doodle doodle doodle det, the clarinet, the clarinet, goes doodle doodle doodle det, the drums playing two tones they're always the same tones, hi lo lo hi hi hi hi hi lo, the horn the horn awakes me a dawn the violins ringing,like lovely singing, |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Joe Offer Date: 02 Dec 02 - 07:24 PM Hi, Seamus - Alison, now of Australia, is originally froom Belfast. She posted a fragment of Music Man above, which is similar to what you sing. Could this be a distinctive Belfast version? Click here for her tune for "Music Man," which I think is quite similar to what you sing. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Seamus Kennedy Date: 02 Dec 02 - 03:54 PM I've recorded another variant of theis song on my childrens' CD - Seamus Kennedy Gets On Everybody's Nerves,which I learned in Ireland many years ago. I also get the kids to act out playing the instruments, accordion, trombone, fiddle, tuba, bagpipes, etc. There's one bit of silliness in the last verse: a lawn-sprinkler. I think this was originally an old German folk song, and I used to sing it years ago with friends at parties. The insruments here are only a quarter of the ones we would do. You can add your own intstruments to the list. They don't have to be MUSICAL instruments, you know. I mean there's a Lawn Sprinkler in this one! Thanks to my friend Ed Miller for bringing it back to my memory. THE MUSIC MAN (Trad.) I am the music man, and I can play, What can you play? (Repeat after each verse) I can play the accordion: In and in and in and out, in and out, in and out. In and in and in and out, in and in and out. The trombone: Back and back and back and forth, etc.. The fiddle: Up and up and up and down, etc. The tuba: Oom-pah, oom-pah, oom-pah-pah, etc., The bagpipes: Huff and huff and huff and puff, etc., The snare -drum: Rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat, etc The piano: The pia-, pia-, pia-no, etc., The lawn sprinkler: Tsch, tsch, tsch, tsch, tsch, etc. |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: GUEST,Another Guest Date: 02 Dec 02 - 01:06 PM Thank you all so much. I'm trying to convince some Scout leaders to perform this for a Cub Scout Pack Nite in January and all I could get from the library was Barney, the purple dinosaur,singing the song. Not very convincing, even if he and his gang did get the tune right, which is alot more than I could do. This information and the links will help me get them to sing. |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: GUEST Date: 05 Mar 02 - 10:10 AM Dredging up childhood memories, my musician was not German, or Schwabian. We started off "I am a Rusticaner, I come from Skavvish Land". |
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Subject: Lyr Add: ICH BIN EIN MUSIKANTE From: Wilfried Schaum Date: 05 Mar 02 - 03:03 AM Reminiscences of youth ... I learned this song some 50 years ago by oral tradition in the German YMCA, forgot a lot, but the melody still is there. I just remember the trumpet and the treble recorder. This song is sung alternately by solo singer and chorus.
one: Ich bin ein Musikante
Ich bin ein ...
Note: It is one of the inconsistencies of the German language, that you not only can play an instrument (acc.), but also on an instrument (prep. + dat.) which is the cause here for the sake of the beat. Wilfried |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Snuffy Date: 04 Mar 02 - 06:44 PM Lucius, you do guess correctly that I am on the right side of the puddle. The Archers is a long-running radio soap (50+ years); the Dambusters was a war film from the mid 1950s and the Dambusters March went to number 1 in the British charts; Jerusalem is a poem by William Blake set to music by CHH Parry, and often used as a hymn in Britain. Most Britons of a certain age will be all too familiar with all three of those, but they will probably mean little to those brought up beyond the Septic Isle. WassaiL! V |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: SharonA Date: 04 Mar 02 - 11:04 AM Lucius: The only version, such as you describe, that I've ever heard is on tape... but it's videotape: There was an episode of the old Dick Van Dyke show from the early 1960s in which he, Mary Tyler Moore, Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie (Richard Deacon also, I think [the actor who played Mel Cooley]) performed the song in marching-band costumes. |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Wilfried Schaum Date: 04 Mar 02 - 02:54 AM Hi Alison, no chance to learn the program, the link http://www1.tpgi.com.au/users/afostes/miditext.html is invalid unfortunately. HELP! Wilfried Hi, Wilfried - the new MIDITEXT download site is http://miditext.8m.net/ -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Joe Offer Date: 04 Mar 02 - 12:29 AM Lucius, I think there's a barbershop quartet arrangement of this song. I don't think I have it, and all my books are in boxes now and I can't look. Look around at http://www.spebsqsa.org/ and see if they have it. If you don't find it, send them an e-mail. My Scoutmaster was a barbershopper, so I grew up knowing that SPEBSQSA means the Society for the Preservation and Enrichment of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America, Kenosha, Wisconsin. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Lucius Date: 03 Mar 02 - 11:38 PM Snuffy, what are these tunes, do I guess correctly that you are on the right side of the puddle? Hal Leonard publishes a piece called the Musicians that has a four voice chorus at the end of the piece, though I recall something like a six voice ending. Has anyone seen the dots, how hard is it? Lucius |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Snuffy Date: 03 Mar 02 - 06:59 PM Other verses commonly sung in the Enlish version include I can play ... the Archers, (rum-ti-tum the Archers theme tune) the Dambusters (make goggles of fingers and daa-daa the Dambusters tune) the Cross Channel Ferry, P &, P &, P & O, P & O, P & O, P &, P &, P & O, P &, P & O. Jerusalem (sing the whole of Jerusalem). I have also heard a slightly different version using Schubert's (or is it Schumann's?) Grande Marche Militaire as the tune:
Long time ago in a small town in Germany WassaiL! V |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Lucius Date: 03 Mar 02 - 05:19 PM Sorry to dredge up this old chat, but I'm looking for an english version of this song that has all of the "instruments" coming together at the end of the piece. I sang a great choral arrangement of this tune in college elementary methods, but I can't remember the publisher. Any recommendations? Thanks, Lucius |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: DonMeixner Date: 09 Apr 99 - 11:19 PM And I always assumed that Danny Kaye's wife Sylvia wrote this tune for him to sing in a movie some place. The stuff you learn on the cat. Don |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Bruce O. Date: 09 Apr 99 - 05:32 PM It looks like I might have made a boobbo. The author and composer may not be Americans. I saw that Mohawk Minstrels and assumed it was. |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Bruce O. Date: 09 Apr 99 - 05:28 PM Give it time, I got "Possum up a gum tree" a few days ago, but haven't typed it up yet. |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: The Shambles Date: 09 Apr 99 - 05:24 PM Wolfgang At least there are no bloody possums here yet. OOPS!
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Joe Offer Date: 09 Apr 99 - 05:02 PM Here's the excerpt from The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music: THE WONDERFUL MUSICIAN Title: The Wonderful Musician. Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: Words by Walter Greenaway, Esqre.; Music by Vincent Davies. Instrumentation: piano and voice First Line: A wonderful musician once, In Germany did dwell, His name quite unpronounceable, Impossible to spell First Line of Chorus: A big drum a kettle drum the fiddle flute and piccolo, piano harp harmonium and many more beside Performer: Sung Also by James Francis of the Mohawk Minstrels. Engraver, Lithographer, Artist: Alfred Concanen del. Plate Number: 1540 Subject: Orchestras Subject: Percussion instruments Subject: String instruments Subject: Brass instruments Subject: Woodwind instruments Subject: Noise pollution Subject: Accidents I can't get the lyrics to display at Levy, so the link above may not work. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Bruce O. Date: 09 Apr 99 - 04:04 PM What German song? See American author and composer, 1871, in the Levy collection. Box 054, Item 161 |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Wolfgang Date: 09 Apr 99 - 04:08 AM what a long way this thread did go from German songs on musicians to English songs on German musicians - and clockwinders. The thread could possibly merge into the songs on singers thread (if we keep to the music theme) or into the condom thread (looking from the clockwinder's activity angle) as all threads use to do if they survive the first 40 posts. Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Joe Offer Date: 09 Apr 99 - 02:28 AM I'm glad you pointed out THE GERMAN MUSICIANER and OLD GERMAN CLOCKWINDER, Bruce. I have the Kennedy book, but haven't spent as much time studying it as I should. Great songs, aren't they? Now I'm off to find your "Holland Smock." it's not the one in OUTLANDISH KNIGHT, is it? -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: I am a Fine Musician - German song? From: Bruce O. Date: 08 Apr 99 - 10:16 PM There's another "German Musicianer" in Peter Kennedy's 'Folksongs of Britain and Ireland', #201, and he fixes 'pianos' about the same as "The Old German Clockwinder" in DT fixes 'clocks'. (See also "The Holland Smock" in the Scarce Songs 1 file on my website for an earlier 'clock' repairman.) |
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