EXAMPLE 3
Easter Monday Vallja (Ruzallza) in S. Costantino Albanese (Basilicata)
Historical recording and photos by Giuseppe Chiaffitella, 1957
Today is Easter Monday, year 1957. It is a day we will all remember because today, my heart tells me, this is perhaps the last vallja. Valljasthat for years have cheered up this beautiful village, and when one day we’ll listen to these voices and these songs, our heart will sigh for the songs of today. So I’d like you to sing the song you did KaKonget [village location], the song that will forever remain in the history of our village […]. Now sing the most beautiful song you ever performed in my house, the song of the vallja of Kostandin.
There was a very good mother,
she had nine good sons.
The nine sons she married,
nine tables she prepared,
nine barrels she tapped,
nine flags she decorated.
The nine sons she sent away
came and went ambassadors
to marry Jurndina.
No one was happy,
Kostandin was happy:
we must marry Jurdina.
No, my son, is too far:
if I need her in joy,
in joy I go to take her;
if I need her in mourning,
in mourning I go to take her.