A COLLECTION AND TRANSCRIPTION OF WALLOON BELGIAN FOLKSONGS AS SUNG IN NORTHEAST WISCONSIN WITH ANALYSIS AND HISTORICAL COMMENTARY by Terry Jane Bobbe A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC SILVER LAKE COLLEGE Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the MASTER OF MUSIC (MUSIC EDUCATION: KODALY EMPHASIS) July 1993 SILVER LAKE COLLEGE Ul:™X 240G SOOTH ALVERilO r•'•) MANITOWOC, Wl 542a} ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The researcher would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance and guidance of my advisor, Sr. Lorna Zemke, and Sr. Marella Wagner and Mr. Paul Sanders. Many people of Belgian ancestry in northeast Wisconsin have given the researcher encouragement, information, and insights, as well as opening their homes and hearts to one who began this project with little understanding of the culture. Mr. Alfred Vandertie was very helpful in providing information and in singing and preserving many songs. Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Draize provided information, assistance in translations, and generously allowed the researcher to borrow recordings, papers, and photographs. The first tape the researcher used was provided by Mrs. Donald Englebert. Theresa Alexander, Joyce Lampereur, Milton Delwiche, Keith Wautlet, and Galen DeNamur, all fellow teachers in the Southern Door Schools, gave information and assistance in organizing materials and especially relationships of individuals and families. Mr. DeNamur's aunt, Mrs. Mary Gilson, provided information about Mr. Jule DeNamur. The guidance and instruction of the following are gratefully acknowledged: Mrs. Nadine Luke, piano teacher; Mrs. Alma Sitton, English teacher; Dr. Andrew C. Minor, Dr. Charles Sherman, and Dr. James Bastian, music history; Dr. ii Charles Nick Kyriakos, music theory; Professors Harry S. Morrison and Dan Vanderlinden, voice; and Professor Thomas L. Mills, Sr., choral music, University of Missouri Singers. The researcher is also tremendously grateful for the support and encouragement of her family; husband, John, and children, Michael, Elizabeth, and Stephen; who endured many semesters of teaching and classwork and many summers of classwork and research. The researchers' parents, Mrs. Hester Taylor and the late Mr. Wichmann S. Taylor, are responsible for the positive attitude toward education needed to undertake this project. copyright © by Terry Jane Bobbe 1993 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I - THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING Introduction 1 Statement of the Problem 1 Sub-Problems 2 Definition of Terms 2 Delimitations 4 Basic Assumptions 5 Significance of the Project 6 CHAPTER II - RELATED LITERATURE A Series of Circumstances 7 Sister Adele 9 Religious Celebrations 13 First Kermiss in the New World 15 Maypole 19 Brief Biographies of Some Early Settlers 20 CHAPTER III - THE SONGS WITH ANALYSIS AND TRANSLATION Introduction 25 Sources of Song Material 25 Song Material 29 Song List 71 Song Chart 72 CHAPTER IV - SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary 73 Conclusions 74 Recommendations 76 SOURCES CONSULTED Sources consulted 78 APPENDICES Appendix I - Brief Biographies of Interviewees 84 Appendix II - Songs not of Walloon Derivation 88 Appendix III - Photographs 97 iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Many of the Belgian people who settled in Northeast Wisconsin were very musical, bringing their instruments and their songs with them when they immigrated. Music was an integral part of their lives and their culture and important to their celebrations, both religious and secular. Some of the music was peculiar to the Walloons but other music was identical to that used by other groups of settlers, especially those of the Roman Catholic faith. Since the Walloon dialect as used in the United States never was translated into written form, the language and the folk music remained a completely oral tradition. Today only a small percentage of the descendants of the early settlers is able to speak Walloon endangering the loss of their language and musical cultural heritage. There are many in the community who are attempting to keep the language and all of the culture alive for succeeding generations. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The purpose of this study is to preserve, in written form, some of the folk music of the people of Brown, Door, and Kewaunee counties who are of Walloon Belgian ancestry- The musical notation is transcribed from tapes or recordings 1 2 and includes Walloon texts. An English translation is provided for all songs and a French translation is given for those songs from the album Antholoqie Du Folklore Wallon. The history of the settlement, along with special celebrations, is discussed and related to the song material. SUB-PROBLEMS 1. The first sub-problem concerns the collecting of the folk music to discern the availability of the music and how it relates to the history of the area and the people. This follows the study of the general history of those who immigrated from Belgium and settled in northeast Wisconsin. 2. A special effort has been made to investigate celebrations of the community and music related to them. Some of these will be Kermiss, Rogation Processions, the Maypole, St. Nicholas Day and Christmas Day. Other songs are divided into categories of Drinking Songs, Badinages, Children's Songs and Lullabies and Mogueries. 3. An attempt has been made to provide an adequate translation of the text for each song. DEFINITION OF TERMS 1. Walloon - Walloon is a dialect of French; a French patois very much like old French. The Walloon area of Belgium is the southern and eastern part in which French and Walloon are the languages spoken. 3 2. Flemish - Flemish is a dialect of Dutch. The Flemish area of Belgium is the northern and western part in which Dutch and Flemish are the languages spoken. 3. Kermiss - Kermiss (Kirmess, Kermis) is a fall harvest festival of thanksgiving brought from Belgium to northeast Wisconsin and first celebrated here in 1858. The word is derived from Kirk-messe, or church mass, and so is of religious origin. After Mass on Kermiss there is much dancing and feasting. 4. Rogation Procession - The Rogation Procession is held on Ascension Day at the end of May. During the celebration, people offer prayers and sing litanies of special supplication for abundant crops. 5. Maypole - The Maypole is a balsam tree that has been stripped of branches except for those at the very top. Ribbons are placed on those branches that remain. The pole is placed in the yard of recently elected officials of the town to honor them. The officials are then obligated to provide refreshments for all those assembled. In the earliest days of the custom, a dance was performed around the pole and the ribbons were entwined. 6. bass horn - Bass horn is a term used synonymously to designate the tuba. 7. monstrance - a receptacle in which the consecrated Host is exposed for adoration. The Host is the wafer used in Holy Communion. 4 8. moqueries - songs of ridicule or derision. 9. badinages - songs that tease, that are trifling or a joke. DELIMITATIONS 1. The collection of songs included in this study are those attributed to the Walloon musical culture as used in northeast Wisconsin; other songs incorporated by the Walloons into their repertoire and ascribed to other cultures are not included. 2. Consequently, songs translated into Walloon but not of that origin will not be used even though they hold an important place in the culture of the area. These songs, especially those used in the Catholic religious services by the Belgians and many other ethnic groups, are mentioned and examples are placed in the Appendices, but they will not be included in this study nor will they be analyzed. 3. Folk music of the Walloon area of Belgium will not be utilized unless it is also found in northeast Wisconsin. 4. The music will not be sequenced or analyzed for teaching purposes in any methodology, but will be analyzed according to established techniques used in folk song research. 5. All musical material examined will be vocal music rather than dance tunes or instrumental music. 5 6. No attempt will be made to harmonize, arrange or compose accompaniments for the songs. BASIC ASSUMPTIONS 1. There will be a sufficient number of songs recorded with adequate sound quality so that the researcher will be able to decipher the pitches and rhythms of the melody and transcribe them onto the treble staff. 2. The songs will be unison in nature and originated in Walloon. 3. Categorization of the songs into general groups or types such as drinking songs, lullabies, children's songs, or work songs will be possible. 4. The songs will fit into the scales/modes common to European and North American folk music. 5. Variants of songs may occur, although this is less likely in such a small geographic area among a closely knit community. 6. The songs used will be authentic folk material. 7. Some of the musical material will be directly related to that of the Walloon area of Belgium, while other songs were composed here. 8. The primary source material used is authentic and accurate. 6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT The significance of this project is to collect and transcribe Walloon folk music which might otherwise be lost to coming generations. The music is now preserved only on recordings. These are not easily available to the general public, many of whom would not have the time to spend in libraries making copies of them or tapes for their personal use or even be aware of the existence of the collection. The preservation of these songs as a part of the Walloon culture of the area is of great importance to those in the community who want to keep the culture alive and preserve it for the next generation. Walloon Belgian culture is also one that seems to be overlooked in much of the available material documenting the early history of the state of Wisconsin. Due to the lack of a written version of the Walloon dialect in this country, much of the cultural transmission has been oral. Too few of the younger generation are now aware of this culture; therefore, this collection should be a source of musical material for those interested in learning about the Walloon culture of northeast Wisconsin.