GREENSLEEVES

Esta conocida canción pertenece al repertorio renacentista inglés y su composición se atribuye al Rey Enrique VIII de Inglaterra (1491-1547). Este rey, perteneciente a la Casa de los Tudor, era un gran aficionado a la música y nos dejó el libro conocido como Henry VIII´s manuscript en el que aparecen obras propias y de otros compositores de su corte. Según la leyenda, Greensleeves fue escrita para su amante y futura esposa Ana Bolena. Ana rechazaba los intentos de seducirla de Enrique. Parece ser que la canción alude a este rechazo: "cast me off discourteously" (me repudias descortésmente).

Sea un mito o no lo sea, se trata de una canción tradicional que a mi siempre me recuerda al norte de Inglaterra y me evoca paisajes preciosos de esta zona lindante con Escocia, incluso de la propia Escocia. Ahora podréis escuchar la versión que hace de esta canción la intérprete francesa, Nolween Leroy, que está de actualidad en el país vecino. Se acompaña con preciosas imágenes de la Bretaña francesa (norte de Francia) cuyos paisajes se asemejan a los de Inglaterra, pues es una zona históricamente muy influenciada por este país. Como viene siendo habitual, incluyo la letra para quienes deseen practicar un poco el listening y el speaking.

Alas, my love you do me wrong to cast me off discourteously
for I have loved you so long delighting in your company.

I have been ready at your hand to grant whatever your would crave and
I have waged both life and land, your love and good will for to have.

Greensleeves was my delight. Greensleeves was my heart of gold.

Greensleeves was all my joy and who but my lady Greensleeves.

I have been ready at your hand, To grant whatever you would crave,
I have both wagered life and land, Your love and good-will for to have.
Greensleeves was my delight. Greensleeves was my heart of gold.

Greensleeves was all my joy and who but my lady Greensleeves.

Thou couldst desire no earthly thing but still thou hast it readily.

Thy music for to play and sing and yet thou would not love me.

Greensleeves was my delight. Greensleeves was my heart of gold.

Greensleeves was all my joy and who but my lady Greensleeves.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Si alguien piensa ir a alguna fiesta de Halloween esta noche, es muy probable que escuche alguna de estas canciones que son indispensables en noches como esta:

Thriller, M. Jackson (indispensable)

Love song for a vampire, Annie Lennox

The Munsters, tema principal (la familia Addams)

Lullaby, The Cure

Why can't I be you, The Cure

A Saucerful of Secrets, Pink Floyd

Walking in my shoes, Depeche Mode

Creep, Radiohead

A continuación encontraréis muchas curiosidades sobre Halloween para que podáis practicar vuestro English reading and vocabulary. 

Halloween is celebrated in most of the occidental world during the night of October 31. The date commemorates the “all saints day”, also named the “hollows day”.

It’s origins come from the Celtic beliefs. During the XIX century this celebration was taken abroad to the United States by the Irish emigrants, more concretely, around 1846.

The party was celebrated in honour of Samhain, the death God of the Celtics. October 31 was the end of the year and all the community celebrated it with enormous fires, because they thought that with the beginning of the winter the division between the world of the death and the world of the living would disappear. They thought both worlds would enter in contact.

History: It all began more than 2500 years ago, when the Celtic year finished with the end of the summer, just the 31^st of October of our calendar. All the cattle, the sheep, pigs and horses were introduced in the stables because Celts believed spirits could leave the cemetery that night and take hold of the living to resurrect.

What did the Celts do to avoid it? They made their houses look dirty and they decorated them with bones, skulls and different unpleasant things so the dead would be frightened and wouldn’t get in their homes. That’s were all the tradition about the costumes and decorating houses come from.

The “night of the dead” of the Celts was called “All Hallow’s eve” but with time it ended up being called “Halloween”.

When Romans conquered the Celtic territory they added two more celebrations: Feralia, when they commemorated their dead people, and Pormona, the veneration to the fruit and trees goddess.

Then the Christian beliefs were extended on the Celtic territories declaring the first day of November the All Hallows day and the second day as the day of all dead.

The Halloween pumpkin and Jack O’Lantern or the custom of asking for sweets is a tradition. Many cultures have contributed to this celebration and, without doubt, it was the American who made it most famous.

Halloween is a party based of death, fear, living dead, mythical monsters and black magic; and characters like ghosts, werewolves, black cats, bats, witches, zombies and some literary figures like Dracula and Frankenstein.

The traditional colours used in Halloween are black because it is the colour of the night, and orange colour of the dawn. They are also the typical colours of the autumn and things such as pumpkins and scarecrows.

People celebrate Halloween by going trick-or-treating, which means to get dressed up in costumes to look like traditional characters, such as witches or ghosts, and travel from house to house and say "trick or treat." If the house is friendly they will give treats to those dressed in costumes, such as candy or small toys. However, if the house does not give them any goodies, then the trick-or-treaters will play tricks on them, such as decorating the yard with toilet paper or eggs. Many of the homes will already be decorated with scary graveyards or fake spider webs to scare away evil spirits.

Trick or treat smell my feet
or give me something good to eat
if you don't, I don't care
I'll pull down your underwear

Most people who celebrate this holiday enjoy throwing costume parties where all the guests are dressed up in the traditional characters of Halloween. Often there are costume contests to judge who has the best outfit. Many children and adults get together and tell ghost stories and spooky tales to scare one another while they eat the candies they collected during trick-or-treating.

HALLOWEEN VOCABULARY

werewolf: hombre lobo

scarecrow: espantapájaros

ghost: the spirit of someone who has died, esp. one that is believed to have returned to earth to haunt a place or living people – fantasma

goblin: in folklore and fairy tales, an ugly creature that does evil or mischief to humans – duende

haunted: inhabited or visited by ghosts – encantado

mask: a covering for all or part of the face, usually worn to disguise the wearer’s identity.

monster: an imaginary or mythical creature, often with features of two different animals or of animals and humans.

mummy: a corpse preserved by embalming, especially one embalmed and wrapped by or in the manner of the ancient Egyptians.

potion: a mixture for drinking, especially one that is supposed to have medicinal, magical or poisonous effects.

pumpkin: a large, roundish, gourdlike orange fruit that has thick edible flesh and is borne on a low-growing vine.

bat: any of various usu. night-flying mammals that have wings that are covered with membranes, and that sense objects mostly by means of reflected sound waves rather than by vision.

scary: causing fear; frightening.

spell: a word, phrase, or the like used to bewitch or enchant; charm; incantation – encantamiento.

vampire: a legendary being, often said to be a revived corpse, that preys on people in order to suck out their blood.

warlock: a man who practices witchcraft or magic arts; sorcerer – brujo.

witch: a woman who practices or is believed to practice occult magic; sorceress.

zombie: a spell or supernatural force that, according to voodoo belief and legend, can enter a corpse, return life to it, and then control its actions.

carve: to form or inscribe by cutting.

costume: a set of clothes suited to a particular season, occasion, or activity.