Famine Song. These simple verses recall the potato blight and the resulting starvation, the main reason for the first waves of emigration from Ireland and Europe.
Banchnoic Eireann O (The Fair Hills of Ireland). A song of longing for the fair hills of Ireland.
Muirsheen Durkin. Learned around the turn of the 20th century by the great collector, Colm O'Lochlainn, who added verses of his own -- more vaudeville than traditional.
Irish Set Dancing. The Irish set dances derive many of the figures from French ballroom dances popular with the gentry throughout the 19th century.
Irish Story. To be selected.
The Rambling Irishman. A traditional song of immigration from the north of Ireland.
Children's Songs from Ireland. "The Wee Falorie Man," "The Red Fox," and "Fair Rosa."
Sant'Antonie nel Deserto (St. Anthony in the Desert). St. Anthony is lured into sin by Satan with a variety of ruses, but the saint outwits him.
Borscht. Klezmer music, the traditional instrumental music of the Eastern European Jews, dates back at least 500 years. Vocal tunes were added to the repertoire in the 19th century with the rise of Yiddish theater in Romania. The lovesick singer says, "I've never eaten such borscht. I can't forget you, my love."
Donna, Donna. A love song from the Piedmont region of Italy. "Woman, surely you were born to make me suffer, you will make me die."
Hymn for a New World. Excerpts from Psalm 118, newly composed by George Emlen. "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner."
Shlof Mein Kind. This traditional Jewish folk song tells of the great disparity between the rich and the poor.
Oyfn Pripetshik. This lullaby teaches that the Jewish alphabet can be a source of strength and comfort in times of persecution and exile. "Remember, children, what you're learning here; recite and repeat it again: 'Komets-alef' is pronounced 'o'."
Dona, Dona. Originally written in Yiddish for a play, this song has become an expression of yearning for freedom around the world.
Tum, Balalaika. A young man worries all night about choosing a girl. He poses a riddle: what can grow without grain, what can turn without burning itself out, what can cry without tears? She replies, "Foolish boy, why do you have to ask? A stone (meaning nothing) can grow without rain, love can burn without burning itself out, a heart can cry without tears." "Play, balalaika, let it be joyous."
Piove e Sole (Rain and Sun). An Italian children's song.
Rosabella di Milano (Rosabella from Milan). In this song, derived from an old ballad known as A Mother's Curse, the mother predicts that the ship to America will capsize in mid-voyage and that all its passengers will drown.
Torna a Surriento (Come Back to Sorrento). This famous Neopolitan song was written to encourage the Italian president to return to the coastal town of Sorrento to admire its natural beauty.
Limerick's Lamentation and Butterfly. A slow air and a slip jig.
A Parting Glass. This leave-taking song is well known by all Irish people.
