GREATEST KONKANI SONG HITS #2: ___________________________ transcribing the fine music of a great culture - revisiting the original magic, and recreating a modern idiom: ___________________________ "TAMBDDE ROZA TUJE POLLE" ___________________________ "Rosy Red Art Thy Cheeks" _________ A. LEGEND: "Tambdde Roza Tuje Polle" This Mando (the traditional slow six-four Goan art song), rather lighter in character than its contemporaries, is oft taken as a paen to the fanciful memories of spinsterhood. In its original form it is popularly atributed to the great Curtorim mando composer Ligorio Costa who penned it late in the eighteenth century. It is instantly recognizable at any Goan gathering, picnic, wedding, litany or trip. At once rousing and banal, its heavy undertow drags in the unwary listener. The hopeful promise of the lovers' early courtship - their repeated entreaty for her father's blessing, menaced by the threat of a lover's curse - gives way to the despair of her forced marriage to another. Her unhappiness is further compounded by the continued attentions of young admirers amongst the local gentry. Despite this mood shift, its cheery progress in the major key has crystallized it into somewhat of a community anthem all over the Konkan diaspora. __________________________ B. TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED: "Tambdde Roza Tuje Polle" Mapusa, Goa, March 1998. The melody floated, sweet on the spring air, then halted. The home director gulped,"It's her, oh my God!" "Do tell!" cooed his visitor. The director gazed six floors down at the rectangle of white roses... The girl was sixteen, dark-haired and sensuous, when she fell in love with her impoverished music-teacher's son. A lovely mansion overlooking Mapusa echoed to her sinewy saxophone. Her folks were blueblood, the richest vintners in Goa, but all Tony could offer was a gorgeous melody he dedicated to her. Tamara was delighted. She finally persuaded her father and they were to wed at Easter. At Christmas, after a drunken brawl Tony was done to death with a crowbar by the "Motte Aulist" gang - a local mafia connected to the wine-industry. His body was thrown into the pit of a new hospital under construction on the city hill and cement poured. The girl never had any doubt of her family's complicity and very shortly turned insane. Twenty years later she entered a home. The melody swelled now, rich and mellow. "Come" said the director at the window, "Watch!". His visitor froze. In the sparse garden below, the lone patch of white blooms opened slowly to the music, turned pink, then rose-red. "That's the piece he named after her!" the director whispered. "And her name?" the visitor croaked. "Oh, you know the famous "Madame d'Rosa" distillery, she's "Tam D'Rosa!" "God!" quaked the visitor, "Where am I?" "Oh, this used to be the hospital," said the director. "You mean??" the visitor shrieked. "Yes," choked the director,"The roses, that's where his body lies!" "Tambdde Roza" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuyUeHs2w_U&feature=related _______________ Francis Rodrigues (c) 2009. Author of the multi-volume "Greatest Konkani Song Hits" series."Tales Of The Unexpected" contains many elements of the original lyric ideas. (A) is fact. (B) is pure fiction - a new spin to focus on the old songs. http://www.KonkaniSongBook.com _________________ _________________________________________________________________ Attention all humans. We are your photos. Free us. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9666046
