Category:   ETHNIC MUSIC
Composer:   Traditional Madagascar and Yiddish Folksongs
Arranger:   Stephen Hatfield
Publisher:   Boosey & Hawkes
Edition:   OCTB6873
Voicing:   SAB
Setting:   A Cappella

Reviewer:   

Patricia Kasarow
Gustavus Adolphus College 1997
R&R Chair Ethnic Music

This is a very accessible and lively work for SSABar, or baritone solo and three part treble. The monosyllabic text consists of nonsense syllables; the Yiddish song “Alle Brider” (“All are Brothers”) is combined with “Oay Lahy E” (“Song of the Sons of the Ancestors), a Madagascar song. These songs are explored alternately and simultaneously, in unison, in counterpoint, and in overlays of flowing ostinati.