Još ne sviće rujna zora | SEVDAHOM PO SVIJETU (karaoke)

#sevdah #karaoke #worldmusic
Sad and beautiful lyrics of a famous folk tune Još ne sviće rujna zora from Montenegro are set to the melody of an ancient medieval Arabic song. It is called Lamma Bada Yatathanna (Arabic: لما بدا يتثنى). It's an Arabic muwashshah of the Nahawand maqam. The poem is considered one of the most famous Arabic pieces of its era, probably dating to the 14. century C.E. (source: Wikipedia). Some sources date it even further back, to the early times of Moorish Spain Andalusia (Al-Andalus). It has been covered by many artists, including great Spanish World music band Radio Tarifa.
• Radio Tarifa - Lamma B...
Another interesting fact about this song is that it is written in very odd uneven beat of 10/4. Such meters sound exotic to Western ears, but they were not uncommon in Arabic music.
Some beautiful Arabic renditions of Lamma Bada include these, by famous Syrian singer-songwriter Lena Chamamyan:
• Lena Chamamyan - Lama ...
and a renown Lebanon-born vocalist Christiane Karam:
• Lena Chamamyan - Lama ...
And here' the best (live, by Lena Chamamyan) performance I've found so far.
• البرنامج - لينا شمامي...
It clearly shows the superiority of Arab musicians. I like sevdah very much, but even the most sofisticated sevdah singer is just a pale shadow ... We're no match!
So my arrangement is a quite simple Balkan-style piece in 2/4 time, with some Balkan Gypsy brass spices. The traditional music for the original Montenegrin song is even more simple, but I think that in this rendition it can rightly be called a sevdalinka, or maybe Arabic-style sevdalinka.
Original Montenegrin lyrics (traditional)
JOŠ NE SVIĆE RUJNA ZORA
Još ne sviće rujna zora,
Još ne trepti list sa gora.
Ne čuje se glas slavuja
Zoru da najavi.
Ne čuje se ni zefira
Niti svirka od pastira
Tišina je svud okolo.
Sve živo počiva.
Neka cvijeta rosno cvijeće,
Nek se kiti s njim proljeće.
Ja ga neću više brati
Jer nije za mene.
Ja ga neću više brati
Jer ga nemam kome dati.
Kome sam ga darivao/-la
Zemlja ga/je pokriva.
Rough English translation
THE DAY IS NOT DAWNING YET
The day is not dawning yet,
Mountain trees not yet awake.
No nightingale's voice is heard
To announce the daybreak.
No whispering of the breeze,
Neither shepherd's flute I hear.
All is quiet, all is calm -
Every thing is resting still.
Though spring flowers are in bloom
Adorned with a silver dew,
I won't pick them anymore.
I won't pick them, for my love
One I used to give them to -
Is now buried deep below.
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