canasg choral music publishing

WT2019

Da bi imal perje

(If I had wings)

traditional Croatian song

arranged by Sheena Phillips
for soprano, alto, tenor and bass chorus
with optional soli

SATB performance time approx 2m 30s

Arranger's note

This song has a fateful melody of repeatedly falling phrases. It is written in the voice of a man who has emigrated from his home town - but separation from home and friends is something just as likely to be experienced by women as by men these days, and I have given the melody to the female voices. The close harmonies of verse 2 are similar to those that women in the Balkan region do traditionally sing together. The song becomes more intense with the entry of the male voices in verse 3, and can then either continue to build or become gradually more poignant.

Verses 1 and 5 may be sung by soloists, or by female or mixed voices in unison, depending on your own reading of the song. If the alto line in bars 16, 20 and in corresponding places in later verses is uncomfortably low, altos can sing middle C.

Music

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Hear a MIDI file of the song

Words

Da bi imal perje

Da bi imal perje,
Kak letecha ftica,
Saki veccer bi doletel
K tebi grliccica.

Da bi imal majku,
Koja me rodila,
Saki veccer bi k'njoj ishel,
Kaj bi se spominal.

Da bi imal dragu,
Ka bi me ljubila,
Nej se moja lepa mladost
V stranjskem zhalostila.

Leti mi ti fticcek
CCrez visoke gore,
Odnesi mi zelen listek
V malo Medimorje.

Ali da ga ipak
Nemash komu dati,
Nemam tuzhen svoje tuge
Komu povedati.

traditional Croatian song, published in 'Folk Songs of Europe' ed. Maud Karpeles published by Novello & CO. Ltd. in 1956. Permission is being sought.

Note: the specially accented letters in the Croatian alphabet have been represented by combinations of unaccented letters.

Translation

If I had wings like a bird,
I would fly to you every night my dove.

If I had the mother who gave birth to me,
I would see her every evening to talk to her.

If I had a darling to love me,
My youth abroad would not be so sad.

Fly bird, through high mountains,
Take this green leaf to Medimorje.

But you have nobody to give it to,
And I have nobody to tell my sorrow to.

translated with the help of Maja Matijasevic from The Croatian Language Guide at http://www.hr/hrvatska/language/Editors.html
and our friends David and Simona Bennet

Full pronunciation guide provided

Price per copy Ł1.30 ($3.00)

Note: This price is for the first 20 licensed copies of the song, further copies cost only 25% of this price.

Companion pieces

Browse the 'World folk and traditional' section of the Canasg catalogue for more songs like this one. To go there now, click on the 'catalogue' box to the right.

Canasg Music