Serdeczna Matko/Stainless the Maiden
  • Bobby Bolin
    Posts: 423
    Should the last two lines be repeated? I have seen/heard them repeated in some cases but not in others. Looking through a few hymnals and listening to a few recordings on YouTube it seems like when it's sung in Polish the last two lines are repeated but when in English they are not. Any ideas?
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,210
    Surely the second "half" should be repeated. It is very typical with Polish/Slavic/Ukrainian hymns such as this have an A-B-B structure, where the second "B" part is repeated. Not to do the repeat when singing it in English ignores the original tradition of singing such hymns/carols/songs.
  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,206
    Yes. The second half, "Wygnancy ewy . . ." is repeated. However, when the English version is sung (Stainless the Maiden) it is not. This is the tradition at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Wyandotte, MI at any rate.
  • Bobby Bolin
    Posts: 423
    Any ideas why? WLP publishes it without the repeat marks but GIA publishes it with them...
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,518
    I'll hazard a guess at why they were repeated in the first place. I'm guessing that there haven't always been enough hymnals or handouts to go around, and that one of the ways to sing something fairly complex, without a refrain, by rote, is to have repeated lines.

    It doesn't add anything to the piece, really, but just helps everyone to sing along.

    (Just a guess)
  • John Koza
    Posts: 8
    The repeat of the section in question is in the version found in the A.B.V.M. Centennial Polish Hymnal (from Polish-American parish in Oil City, PA)
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,230
    In music history class, I am told that A-B-B is called "bar form", and goes back to songs written down in the Middle Ages (the good old days). Now, I just need to find a medieval bar...
Add a Comment