Daniel Mantey - 'Riu riu chiu' - (Spanish Carol,1556)

'Riu riu chiu' - Spanish Anon. 1556, Christmas carol. Arranged and performed by Daniel Mantey - Music All Sorts; hurdy-gurdy, 2 Renaissance flutes, 2 bass viola da gamba, & vocals, with Ami Mantey - vocals. 'Riu riu chui' is a Spanish version of the call of the nightingale! The full refrain would translate roughly as 'tweet, tweet, chirp, God, please protect our homes from the black wolf!' All the verses (a grand total of 7, though I sing only 3) spin out the entire Christmas story from start to finish, with much metaphorical animal imagery, the last verse proclaiming 'thousand of herons sing of joy, filling the heavens with their voices: 'Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, Jesus is born!' Anonymous, though from a 1556 manuscript. Very Spanish. Have you been tapping your toes as you listen? The hurdy-gurdy seems to have originated in Spain, and viols developed their rather early, and they certainly had flutes, so a VERY appropriate ensemble for the piece. Ami very nicely covers the soprano and alto parts, while I sing the tenor and bass. I have known this song and hummed it often for some 40 years; (the choir I sang and played with in college did this song OFTEN!!!) and it was fun to finally do a full 'solo' version! Of course on my Winter CD. 'Riu riu chiu!'

[DanielPJMMAS]

Hi, So sorry, you are right about only 7 verses. In my version, as I was recording, in my notes the opening chorus was marked '1, ' and verse 7 became '8.' I was using the translation provided in the New York Pro Musica edition that I started with. Thanks for the info, and will look into the Spanish.

[cccookies]

Hi again: I've just posted an unabridged rhyming translation of Riu into English and Esperanto with a simple music score. Includes a link to your version. I can't post my own link here; you can Google it by searching for gene keyes riu riu chiu.

[cccookies]

Nice rendition. But you made me scour the Internet to see if there was an 8th verse There are 7 plus the chorus, per authoritative sources, e.g., New Oxford Book of Carols. Also, the wolf wasn't black; he was rabid. It wasn't our homes to be protected: it was Mary. And "angels" is said to be a better translation than "herons". ;-)