Donna donna

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Donna Donna , also Donna, donna ( Yiddish דאָנאַ דאָנאַ “Dona Dona”, also דאָס קעלבל dos kelbl “the little calf”) is a song that was composed in 1940 and is well known in large parts of the world.

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The song is about a calf that cannot resist being led to the slaughter . It is dependent like an employee (servant on the last line). The swallow, on the other hand, determines its own fate, symbolizes independence and personal responsibility, the basis of freedom. The song thus reflects the situation of the Jews in the time of the Third Reich , in which it was created. It was written as Dana Dana in Yiddish for the musical Esterke (1940-1941) by the Jewish artists Aaron Zeitlin (text) and Sholom Secunda (melody). According to some, the words "Donna Donna" go back to the Hebrew Donaj , short form of Adonai , a form of address used by God in Hebrew. This derivation is not plausible for both linguistic reasons (the Ashkenazi pronunciation was Adojnoj ) and religious reasons (the invocation of God in a simple song was unusual).

history

Secunda wrote Dana for orchestra and the variant Dana Dana for a vocal ensemble. The Yiddish text was written in Latin script. The opening melody also formed the end of the song. The rights to the song had from 1940 the New York Mills Music Inc. (in Germany the Belwin-Mills Music Publishing House in Berlin).

The first translation into English was done by Secunda himself, but it did not spread. Only the English adaptation of Sheldon Secunda (son of Betty Secunda and Sholom Secunda) as well as Arthur Kevess and Teddi Schwartz under the title Donna Donna around 1956 became a success. The decisive breakthrough for the song came with performances by Joan Baez in 1960 and Donovan in 1965.

The song has been translated into a number of other languages, such as German , French , Japanese , Hebrew, and Russian .

It has been picked up by a large number of interpreters, such as André Zweig, Joan Baez , Donovan , Nizza Thobi , Chava Alberstein , Esther Ofarim , Theodore Bikel , Karsten Troyke , Sumi Jo , Hélène Rollès in a duet with Dorothée , Claude François .

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The Jewish writer Jizchak Katzenelson, who was murdered in Auschwitz , is sometimes referred to as the author of the song. Katzenelson's authorship is strongly disputed in research (see: http://www.musik-for.uni-oldenburg.de/klezmer/politbildung/blatt10.htm#4 )
  2. ↑ www.discogs.com .
  3. ↑ www.nytimes.com .
  4. ↑ See Hansjoachim Kaps: Folklorist Suite for Guitar. 12 folk tunes from all over the world. Musikverlag Josef Preißler, Munich 1979, p. 10 f. ( Donna, donna . Comp .: Sholom Secunda; Text: Sheldon Secunda, T. Schwartz, A. Keves.)

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