Songs of Siberian Seto

To Dear Uncle: Parody of the Bride’s Lament

Haida koor: Natalja Bogdanova (e), Anna Bogdanova (k)

Lelläkene, lelläkene, mu kulĺa lelläkene,
lelläkene, lelläkene, mu kulĺa lelläkene.
Tsõtsõriku kagariku, hoi meile velekeseq aŕa noorõ-jalõ-kõõs.
Lelläkene, lelläkene, mille naksit sa näiot andmahe?
Lelläkene, lelläkene, kas jää-s sul töödä mu tetäq?
Lelläkene, lelläkene, vaest jää-s sul asõnd mu aiaq?
Lelläkene, lelläkene, vaest niidi ma niidü risutsõhe?
Lelläkene, lelläkene, vaest põimi ma põllu purutsõhe?
Lelläkene, lelläkene, minno pannu sis kivve kandmahe.
Lelläkene, lelläkene, kanda pannu sa vällä kakmahe.

Kiä lätt müüdä, sis mõtlõs, mis pido tah om. Mis tuust!

On the third day of wedding and on after-parties, a parody of the bridal lament that made both the singers and listeners cry on the first wedding day is performed. In the parodies the addressing formulae are replaced with something comical or are extended to form a lengthy refrain. In this mock lament the bride addresses her uncle, her father’s brother (lelläkene). The young woman inquires whether she was married off because she did not scythe hay well enough or because there were no more household chores to do. The bride promises that had she not been married off, she would have carried heavy stones and uprooted tree stumps. The musical style of the refrain is a parody of men’s song; the part sung by the choir imitates the tune of the bridal lament and also employs the mode influenced by the one-three-semitone scale.

ERA, FAM 632 A (2), 632 B (3) < Haida k – Igor Tõnurist 1987 < Natalja Bogdanova, Anna Bogdanova, Jelena Kondratjeva, Darja Markova.

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