Pronunciations
This is a little more challenging without using ipa, but we’ll clean things up during the rehearsals.
Samba-lelê
Samba Lelê tá doente
Tá co’ a cabeça quebrada
Samba Lelê precisava
De umps dezoito lambadas
Sa(h)mba lay-lay ta du-ayn-chee
Ta koa (kwa) ka-bay-sa kay-bra-da
samba lay-lay pray-si-sa-va
Dyoo-mahsh day-zoy-tu lam-ba-dahsh
Samba , samba, Samba-Lelê!
Pisa na barra da saia, lelê.
Samba samba samba-lay-lay
Pee-zah na baha (gutteral h) da sigh-a, lay-lay.
O mulata bonita
Onde é que você mora
r)
Moro na Praia Formosa
E daqui vou me embora
o moo-lah-tah boo-nee-tah
on(nasalized)-gee ay key vo-say more-ah (rolled
more-oo na pry-ah for-moh-za
ay da-kee voo main-bor-ah
Diga, mulata bonita,
Como é que se namora ?
Põe o lencinho no bolso
Com a pontinha de fora.
gee-ga moo-lah-tah boo-nee-ta
Ko-moo ay kee see nah-more-ah
poi yoo lain-see-nyoo noo bowl-soo
Cone a pawn-chee-nya dee for-ah.
Pisa, pisa, pisa, mulata,
Pisa na barra da saia, mulata.
tah
pee-zah moo-lah-tah
pee-zah na baha (gutteral h) da sigh-a moo-lah-
r’s are rolled.
rr’s are guttural h’s.
e’s are like ay, but narrower and brighter and without the diphthong.
Ziguenerleben
Since there is a good deal of text here and even more difficult to write out in faux-phonetics, I found a
You-Tube video that works well and will hopefully streamline the process.
It’s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnQO5icTsgA
The recording begins with some basic German pronunciation rules, but the actual song begins at 1:35.
As an alternative, there is another site which shows the ipa (International Phonetic Alphabet) for the text in
addition to having a sound file. Note there are 3 sections here – Chorus, Soli and Chorus, and Final Chorus.
That URL is http://www.speakingbachetal.com/directory.aspx?level=3&ItemId=77
Click on the section and then the first line to start.
And a translation:
In the shaded wood, among the beech tree’s boughs
Things stir and rustle and murmur;
The flames flicker, the glow dances
Round coloured forms, round foliage and stone.
It is the gypsies who throng there
With flashing eyes and waving hair,
Suckled alongside the sacred Nile,
Bronzed by Spain’s southern heat.
Around the blazing fire in the burgeoning green
The bold, wild men are stretched,
The women crouch and prepare the meal,
And busily fill the ancient goblet.
And fables and songs sound all around,
Colourful and blooming as the gardens of Spain,
And the old gypsy recites to the listening throng
Her magic spells against famine and danger.
Dark-eyed girls begin the dance;
Torches sparkle in the reddish gleam,
Passionate guitars entice, cymbals sound,
As the dance grows wilder and wilder.
Then, exhausted, they rest from the nightly dance,
The beech trees rustle them to sleep,
And, banished from their native land,
They see in dreams that happy land.
But when the day dawns in the east,
The nocturnal visions fade;
The mule at daybreak paws at the ground,
The figures set off, but who knows where?
English: Richard Stokes © 2007
Looking forward to starting rehearsals on Thursday!
Cheers,
Bruce