Tune Req: Lyr Add: Malo, I would rather be

Subject: Lyr Add: Malo, I would rather be
From: Haruo
Date: 05 Jun 02 - 06:44 PM

Someone posted this little macaronic/redundant ditty in the Usenet newsgroup humanities.classics, in a thread on the various meanings of Latin "malus/malum". I was wondering if anybody knew a tune for it (or wanted to assign one):

Do you know the little rhyme:

Malo, I would rather be
Malo, up an apple tree,
Malo, than a naughty boy
Malo, in adversity?

The first two 'malo's have long A, the last two short.
...
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Liland

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Lyr Add: Malo, I would rather be
From: Haruo
Date: 06 Jun 02 - 11:46 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Lyr Add: Malo, I would rather be
From: songsearch
Date: 07 Jun 02 - 06:56 PM

Thanks Dave, I hung out the question for "Young in Kent" to see how far Elsie`s band were known

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Lyr Add: Malo, I would rather be
From: Haruo
Date: 07 Jun 02 - 07:10 PM

songsearch, I don't know what you're talking about. Did you by chance post this to the wrong thread?

Liland

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Lyr Add: Malo, I would rather be
From: Haruo
Date: 09 Jun 02 - 11:51 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Lyr Add: Malo, I would rather be
From: Haruo
Date: 10 Jun 02 - 11:54 AM

Aha! It's from Britten's Turn of the Screw. I found the following on an Italian Opera site:

L'unico punto di contatto fra gli stili vocali sovrapposti, il reale e il sovrannaturale, è rappresentato dalla canzone di Miles, «Malo, malo, I would rather be / malo, malo, in an apple tree / malo, malo, than a naughty boy / malo, malo, in adversity». Sono parole enigmatiche, che non figurano nel romanzo di James. Britten le scoprì in una vecchia grammatica latina, e corrispondono a uno di quei trucchetti mnemonici che servono per imparare i diversi significati della parola «malo». L'assurdità della canzoncina proietta la figura di Miles in una dimensione diversa, mille miglia lontano dalla razionalità scolastica della sua istitutrice, ed è in effetti il primo, sconcertante segno della diversità di Miles.

Deda's old friends at Latinteach.com pointed me in the right direction.

Liland