To Thread - Forum Home

The Mudcat Café TM
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=48270
6 messages

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

05 Jun 02 - 06:44 PM (#723891)
Subject: Lyr Add: Malo, I would rather be
From: Haruo

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.
...
ew65@bcs.org.uk

Liland

06 Jun 02 - 11:46 PM (#724954)
Subject: RE: Tune Req: Lyr Add: Malo, I would rather be
From: Haruo

refresh

07 Jun 02 - 06:56 PM (#725618)
Subject: RE: Tune Req: Lyr Add: Malo, I would rather be
From: songsearch

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

07 Jun 02 - 07:10 PM (#725631)
Subject: RE: Tune Req: Lyr Add: Malo, I would rather be
From: Haruo

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

Liland

09 Jun 02 - 11:51 AM (#726541)
Subject: RE: Tune Req: Lyr Add: Malo, I would rather be
From: Haruo

refresh

10 Jun 02 - 11:54 AM (#726989)
Subject: RE: Tune Req: Lyr Add: Malo, I would rather be
From: Haruo

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