Glee Club Repertory

Per fornire un’idea del tipo di canzoni che il Glee Club aveva in repertorio presentiamo 18 delle 60 canzoni raccolte in un fascicoletto risalente, molto probabilmente, agli anni ‘30.
Da notare i frequenti riferimenti alla casa, alla madre e alla patria d’origine. Valori particolarmente sentiti all’interno di tutte le comunità straniere.
L’inserimento in un contesto culturale diverso genera uno spontaneo bisogno di elementi che rafforzino la propria identità culturale. Un bisogno che veniva soddisfatto attraverso continui riferimenti alla madrepatria e alla famiglia.

Estr. da Glee Club Repertory, Khartoum, Catholic Mission - Comboni College, s.d., 44 p.
ACR A/65/4/2

Indice

Our College Song
Hurrah for Comboni!
My old Sudan home
O Sole Mio
My Sudan
Evening Hymn
Marching through Sudan
Just before the battle mother
Just after the battle
Soldiers’ Chorus

Old folks at home
God Save The King!
Ave Maria
Home, Sweet Home
I Remember
Mother’s Love
La Paloma
Comboni!

Our College Song (G. No 34)

Up, my comrades! to life and learning
Joyous let us sing a song,
Joyous from a host of voices
Pour the living tide of song,
Joyous from a host of voices
Pour the tide of song.

While its hallow’d notes are blending,
Knit we close our brother-band;
Be our vows to heav’n ascending,
For our own lov’d College land.

Be our vows to heav’n ascending, ascending,
For our own dear Comboni.

Mingled with the palm-trees rustling,
Bid the mighty chorus float,
Till the ears of Sudan spirits
Thrill to ev’ry thrilling note.

Till the ears of ancient spirits
Thrill to ev’ry note.

Be our souls for ever plighted,
As the jubilee we raise
And with thousand songs united
All our olden heroes praise!

And with thousand songs united, united,
All our olden heroes praise!
Hail, thou festal-day of singers,
Stream thy joy o’er Niles and plain,
Till the throngs of loving brothers
Reach their happy home again
Till the throngs of loving brothers
Reach their happy home again,

Homeward ho! with joy and singing
Let us wander hand in hand,
Till the merry lay is ringing,
Ringing through the College land
Till the merry lay is ringing, is ringing,
Ringing through our Comboni

Hurrah for Comboni!

What’s the matter with our team?
They’re all right.

What’s the matter with our team?
Out of sight, Rah! Raw! Ziz, Boum!

Ah! give ‘em a regular yell:
Hurrah! Hip, hip, hurrah! (2)
For Comboni!

My old Sudan home

The sun shines bright in the dear old Sudan home,
"This summer, the darkies are gay;
The cotton’s ripe and the garden’s in bloom,
While the birds make music all the day.

The young folks roll on the little cabin floor,
All merry, all happy and bright;
B’y’n bye hard time comes a-knocking at the door,
Then my dear old Sudan home, good-night
Weep no more, my lady,
Oh! weep no more to-day!
We will sing one song for the dear old Sudan home,
For my dear old Sudan home far away.

They hunt no more for the turtle and the coon,
On desert, the hill and the shore;
They sing no more by the glimmer of the moon,
On the bench by the old cabin door.

The day goes by like shadow o’er the heart,
With sorrow, where all was delight;
The time has come when the darkies have to part,
Then my dear old Sudan home, good-night.
Weep no more etc.

O Sole Mio! (Th. p. 340)

Behold the brilliant sun in all its splendour,
Forgotten is the storm, the clouds now vanish,
The fresh’ing breezes, heavy airs will banish,
Behold the brilliant sun in all its splendour!

A Sun I know of, that’s brighter yet,
This Sun, my dearest, ‘tis naught but Thee
Thy face so fair to see,
That shall now my Sun, forever be!
A Sun I know etc.

My Sudan (Th. p. 294)

When hope his cheering smile supplies,
And winter flies far, far away;
Beneath, dear Niles, your beauteous skies,
When spring becomes more sweet and gay;
When nature dressed again in green,
The swallow to return is seen;
I love again the land to see,
Which gave me, gave me birth, my dear Sudan.

I’ve seen Helvetia’s flowery fields,
Its cottages, its icy hills;
And Italy, thy sky so clear!
And Venice, with her gondolier.

In greeting ths each foreign part,
There’s still one land most near my heart,
A land most cherished loved by me,
My native, native land, my dear Sudan

Evening Hymn (Th. p. 123)

Glory to Thee, my God this night,
For all the blessings of the light:
Keep me, O keep me, King of Kings,
Under thine own Almighty wings.

Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear Son,
The ills that I this day have done:
That with the world, myself, and Thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.

Marching through Sudan

Bring the good old bugle boys! we’ll sing another song
Sing it with a spirit that will start the world along,
Sing it as we used to sing it twenty-two thousand strong,
While we were marching through Kerreri
Hurrah! hurrah! we bring the jubilee!
Hurrah! hurrah! the flag that makes you free,
So we sang the chourus from Wadi Halfa to the sea,
While we were marching through Kerreri.

How the darkies shouted when they heard the joyful sound!
how the turkeys gobbled which our commissary found!
How the sweet potatoes even started from the ground!
While we were marching through Kerreri.
Hurrah! etc.

Just before the battle mother (Th. p. 234)

Just before the battle, mother,
I am thinking most of you,
While upon the field we’re watching,
With the enemy in view.

Comrades brave are ‘round me lying,
Filled with thoughts of home and God;
For well they know that on the morrow
Some will sleep beneath the sod.

Farewell, mother, you may never,
you may nevere, mother
Press me to your heart again;
But Oh, you’ll not forget me, mother
you will not forget me,
If I’m numbered with the slain
Hark! I hear the bugles sounding,
‘Tis the signal for the fight,
Now may God protect us, mother,
As He ever does the right,
Hear the "Battle Cry of -Freedom"
How it swells upon the air;

Oh, yes, we’ll rally ‘round the standard,
Or we’ll perish nobly there
Farewell etc.

Just after the battle (Th. p. 235)

Still upon the field of battle
I am lying mother dear,
With my wounded comrades waiting
For the morning to appear.

Many sleep to waken never,
In this world of strife and death,
And many more are faintly calling
With their feeble dying breath
Mother dear, your boy is wounded,
And the night si drear with pain
with pain
But still I feel that I shall see you,
And teh dear old home again.

Oh, the first great charge was fearful
and a thousand brave men fell,
Still amid the fatal shower,
I had nearly passed the day
When here the dreaded Minnie struck me,
And I sunk amid the fray
Mother dear, etc.

Soldiers’ Chorus (Th. p. 416)

Glory and love to the men of old,
Their sons may copy their virtues bold,
Courage in heart and a sword in hand,
Yes, ready to fight or ready to die for Fatherland.

Who needs bidding to dare by a trumpet blown?
Who lacks pity to spare, when the field is won?
Who wuold fly from a foe, if alone or last?
And boast he was true, as coward might do, when peril is past?
Glory and love to the men of old, their sons may copy their virtues bold.

Courage in heart and sword in hand,
Ready to fight for Fatherland.
Now home again, we come, the long and fiery strife of battle over.
Rest i pleasant after toil, as hard as ours beneath a stranger sun.
Many a maiden fair is waintin here to greet her truant soldier lover,
And many a heart will fail, and brow grow pale to hear the tale of peril he has seen.
We are at home (4)

Old Folks at Home (Th. p. 374)

‘Way down upon the Swanee river,
Far, far away,
There’s where my heart is turning ever,
There’s where the old folks stay.

All up and down the whole creation Sadly I roam,
Still longing the old plantation,
And for the old folks at home.

Chorus

All the world is sad and dreary,
Ev’rywhere I roam,
Oh! darkies, kow my heart grows weary,
Far from the old folks at home.

All ‘round the little farm I wandered
When I was young,
Then many happy days I squander’d,
Many a song I sung.

When I was playing with my brother
Happy was I,
Oh! take me to my kind old mother,
There let me live and die.

Chorus

God Save The King! (Th. p. 161)

God save our gracious king,
Long live our noble king,
God save the king,

Send him victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us;
God save the king.

O Lord, our God arise,
Scatter his enemies,
And make them fall;
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks
On him our hopes we fix;
God save us all

Ave Maria (Th. p. 15)

Mother see my tears,
See my tears are falling,
Thou hast also sorrow known.

Life, Ah! it is so dreary,
My heart it is so weary,
Ah! leave me not alone
O mother, hear me in the light,
Look down on me, my comfort be
And guide my steps aright!

O mother, hear me where thou art,
And guard and guide my aching heart,
My aching heart!

Home, Sweet Home (Th. p. 202)

‘Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home;
A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there,
Which, seek thro’ the world it ne’er met with

Home, home, sweet home elsewhere
There’s no place like home,
Oh there’s no place like home.

I gaze on the moon as I tread the drear wild,
And feel that my mother now thinks of her child;
As she looks on that moon from our own cottage door,
Thro’ the woodbine whose fragrance shall cheer me no more
Home etc.

I Remember (Th. p. 220)

I remember, I remember
The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn;
He never came a wink too soon,
nor brought too long a day,
But now I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away.

I remember, I remeber
The roses red and white,
The violets and lily cups,
Those flowers made of light;

The lilacs, where the robin built,
And where my brothers set
The laburnum, on his birthday,
And the tree is living yet.

Mother’s Love (Th. p. 256)

Lovely night whose starry smile our tender rapture blesses,
Night of love, our love the while with thy caress beguile!
Short is live, the hours they fly, and joy with them flying,
Fleeting raptures drifting by, alas too soon you die
Upon the gentle breeze, - in sweet fragrancy sighing!
Then while love’s moments fleet,
Let our ardent lips meet, (2)

Let our ardent lips meet! Ah!
Lovely night whose starry smile our tender rapture blesses,
Night of love, our love the while,
With thy caress beguile.

Oh night, whose starry smile
Our loves’ sweet rapture blesses
With caresses the hour beguile!
Ah ! (8)

La Paloma (Th p. 387)

The day that I left my home for the rolling sea,
I said, "Mother dear, oh, pray to thy God for me"
And ere we sailed I went fond leave to take
Oh Nina, who wept as if her poor heart would break.

"Nina, if I should die and o’er oceans foam,
Softly a white dove on a fair eve should come.

Open thy lattice, dearest, for it will be,
My faithful soul that loving comes back to thee!

Oh! a life on the sea!
Singing joyous and free,
Oh, we’re going
None are so gay as we!

Comboni!

Thy name we sing, O Comboni!
Who cares for us most tenderly;
And we rejoice with grateful soul,
As thy sweet name the echoes roll.

Our thrillling voices unite in gleeful strains,
To prove thee the love our heart contains.

Neath thy banners dear we pledge most solemnly
To be faithful to thy teachings always.
Comboni!

Fountain of knowledge so pure and undefiled,
Comboni!

In the vast Sudan sprung where meet the two Niles,
Comboni!

The BROWN and WHITE’ll stand by their Alma Mater;
Comboni!

They’ll keep the good habits taken in thy walls,
Forever