1. |
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How happy I am to live in the village of Struga, where I have a little shop. I can sit in the window and watch the women go down to the well with their many-colored pitchers, as they laugh and talk with their friends.
Macedonia.
Arr. Slavko Silić.
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2. |
Mujo Kuje
02:10
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Mujo is shoeing his horse in the moonlight and his mother is scolding him. "Oh, my son, why are you shoeing your horse in the moonlight, and not in the day when there is sunshine?" Mujo says, "Oh, mother, don't scold. You know how I feel when I think of my beloved. I see neither the sun nor the moon. And my horse doesn't notice the darkness or the storm clouds or the cold waters of the River Drina."
Bosnia.
Solos: Anna McNeil and Charlotte Finegold.
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3. |
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Dobri the Merchant is selling cloaks from town to town. One day, he looks for some herbs in the town of Zheravna. Instead of herbs, he finds the beautiful Bonka, sweeping the courtyard of her house. Dobri says, “Bonka, look at me, and love me!”
Bulgaria.
Arr. Trio Bulgarka.
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4. |
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I’m sitting on my black horse, up on the saddle. I rushed with my heels flying from Chiatura, all the way to Tbilisi. I loved you and I thought you were mine, but now you’re starting to annoy me.
Georgia.
Arr. Rustavi Ensemble.
Anna McNeil, Athena Wheaton, Fiona Kurylowicz, Jana Lohrová, Olivia Noble
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5. |
Shto Garit (Что горит)
03:00
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What is burning that does not burn out? What is smoldering in the fir grove? Why does my brother run to me? “Oh, sister, my white swan, don't you know that the matchmakers are at our house and our parents are going to marry you off to a stranger? Our father has agreed, our mother has commanded it, and they are sending you away to a strange house.”
Russia.
Solo: Jana Lohrová
Trio: Charlotte Finegold, Olivia Noble, Athena Wheaton
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6. |
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The forest is weeping—the forest, the mountains, and all of the trees. They asked Indzhe the freedom fighter, “Where are you going? With your five hundred men, you will brighten the forest.”
Bulgaria.
Arr. Trio Bulgarka.
Amanda Crego-Emley, Charlotte Finegold, Maclovia Quintana
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7. |
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Dragana sits in the garden under the white rose bush, embroidering and singing softly to herself. The nightingale hears her and challenges her to a singing contest. "If you win, you may cut off my wings. But if I outsing you, I will cut off your hair." Dragana wins, and the nightingale pleads, “Don’t cut off my wings! Take my feet instead, so I can feed my family!” Dragana replies, “Oh, nightingale, keep your wings and your little feet. It is enough to know that I have outsung the nightingale.”
Bulgaria.
Arr. Filip Koutev.
Duets: Amanda Crego-Emley, Jana Lohrová, Athena Wheaton, and Nadia Grisaru
Quartet: Charlotte Finegold, Kelly Fu, Olivia Noble, Kimberly Lai
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8. |
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Black raven, friend, you fly far off. You have brought us a hand, white, with a ring. I stepped out onto the porch and I staggered a little. By the ring, I recognized that it was my lover whose hand the raven had—the hand of my darling. It seems he was killed in the war and lies unburied in a foreign, faraway country.
Russia.
Learned from Golosa Russian Choir.
Solo: Athena Wheaton
Duets: Anna McNeil and Fiona Kurylowicz
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9. |
Zora Zori (Зора зори)
01:53
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Dawn is breaking; the lone rooster crows. One lover says, “Oh my dear, my white lamb, I need to go home.” The other lover replies, “It is not dawn—it is barely midnight! Stay, and sleep beside me.” The first lover says, “Let me go, my dear, my white lamb. My old mother needs me.”
Serbian, from Kosovo.
Learned from Bojana Radovanović.
Maclovia Quintana, Jana Lohrová, Athena Wheaton
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10. |
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A mystery, strange and most glorious.
Georgia.
A liturgical chant from Guria. Learned from Zedashe Ensemble.
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11. |
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Milka's mother boasted about her daughter: “She is so industrious, and pretty, too!”
Milka's fame spread all the way to Istanbul, all the way to the marketplace, where Marko the merchant heard about her. He bought all sorts of goods, loads of silk, silver thread and gold, and packed up his little boat. Marko cried, “Whatever you need, I have it for sale here!” Young and old came to see his wares, and the last of all was beautiful Milka. When she stepped on the boat to buy herself some fine silk, Marko battened down the hatches and carried her off.
Bulgaria.
Arr. Nikolai Kaufman.
Solos: Athena Wheaton, Anna McNeil, Kelly Fu, Jana Lohrová
Quartet: Amanda Crego-Emley, Jolanta Pach, Maclovia Quintana, Athena Wheaton
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12. |
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A lone maiden curses her tired eyes: “Damn you, my black eyes. You always watched, but now you have fallen asleep. You didn’t see what passed on the road. What passed was three chains of slaves. The first chain, all little children. The second chain, all young brides. The third chain, all young men.”
Bulgaria.
By Dimitrina Karpuzova. Arr. Michael Costagliola.
Solo: Maclovia Quintana
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13. |
Heyamoli (ჰეიამოლი)
03:34
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Let us say a few words about your beauty. I’m going to leave my mother and father and be yours, only yours. Everyone is satisfied, but you are not happy.
Georgia.
Solos: Olivia Noble, Anna McNeil, Maclovia Quintana
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14. |
Nanina (ნანინა)
01:46
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The rose was asked, “What has created you like this—so beautiful in form, but covered in thorns. Why is it difficult to find you?” The rose replied, “You find the sweet through the bitter. It is better to pay such a price, for when beauty has no value, it is not even worth a piece of dried fruit.”
Georgia.
Learned from Carl Linich.
Charlotte Finegold, Amanda Crego-Emley, Claire Gottsegen, Kimberly Lai
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15. |
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Oh forest, why have you withered and faded? Did the frost freeze you, or the fire burn you? No, yesterday evening, three chains of young slaves passed by. The first was a chain of heroes, the second of maidens, and the third of brides leaving small children. The forest has withered from sorrow, withered and faded.
Bulgaria.
Arr. Filip Koutev.
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16. |
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Our host’s wine cellar is full of merriment. In the wine cellar, a grape vine grows. Its branches are weighed down with clusters of grapes, and the drunken young men are rolling around in the dirt.
Georgia.
Learned from Zedashe Ensemble.
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