Juanita (song)
| "Juanita" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Juanita" ("Nita Juanita") is a love song variously subtitled "A Spanish Ballad", "A Song of Spain", and others. "Juanita" was number two of a six song collection entitled Songs of Affection published December, 1853 by Chappell & Co. and composed by noted Victorian society figure and social reformer Caroline Norton.[1] Juanita was the first ballad by a woman composer to achieve massive sales[2], and its original setting (for a soprano) has been seen to be subtly subversive of gender roles (as the woman singing the song is taking the part of the wooing lover),[3] a topic of some significance to Mrs. Norton.
As composing was seen as a masculine occupation, it was typical to borrow or adapt the melodies.[3] The opening four-bar phrase of the song is taken from Handel's aria Lascia ch'io pianga from the opera Rinaldo, although the subsequent melody differs from that of the aria. The name of the song is derived from the refrains:
"Juanita" appears in numerous songbooks and has been recorded many times. Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album 101 Gang Songs (1961).
References
- ^ Fuld, James (2000). The Book of World-famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk. Courier Corporation. p. 325. ISBN 978-0486414751.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Scott, Derek (2001). "3". The Singing Bourgeois: Songs of the Victorian Drawing Room and Parlor (2nd ed.). Ashgate. ISBN 978-0754602590.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b Swafford, Joanna. "Subversive Singing: Role Reversals in Caroline Norton's 'Juanita'". Songs of the Victorians. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- ^ a b Norton, "Juanita"
Bibliography
- Metropolitan Quartette (1909). "Juanita" mp3. Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project. University of California, Santa Barbara
- Morgan and Stanley (1905). "Juanita" mp3. Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project. University of California, Santa Barbara
- Norton, Mrs. "Juanita" (sheet music). Boston: Oliver Ditson (1885).
External links
 | This song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |