Donna Donna
Donna Donna ( דאָנאַ דאָנאַ " Dana Dana ", דאָס קעלבל " Dos Kelbl " or " Dona Dona " ) is a well known in many parts of the earth song. It's about a calf that can not defend itself against being led to the slaughter. It depends on how a worker ( servant in the last line ). The swallow, however, determined their own destiny, symbolized independence and self- responsibility, the basis of freedom. The song reflects the original situation of the Jews in the time of the Third Reich, in which it was created. It was as Dana Dana in Yiddish for the musical Esterke (1940-1941) of the Jewish artists Aaron Zeitlin (text) and Shalom Secunda ( melody ) is written. The seemingly meaningless words "Donna Donna" go back to the Hebrew Donaj, the short form of Adonai, a common salutation in Hebrew from God.
History
Secunda wrote Dana for Orchestra, and the variant Dana Dana for a vocal ensemble. The Yiddish text was written in Latin script. The initial melody formed at the same time the conclusion of the song.
The first translation into English took Secunda before himself, but did not spread. Only the English editing of Arthur Kevess and Teddi Schwartz titled Donna Donna in 1956 was a success. The decisive breakthrough of the song came but by performances by Joan Baez in 1960 and Donovan in 1965.
The song has been translated into a number of other languages , such as in German, French, Japanese, Hebrew and Russian.
It was picked up by a variety of artists such as André branch, Joan Baez, Donovan, Nice Thobi, Chava Alberstein, Esther Ofarim, Theodore Bikel, Karsten Troyke, Sumi Jo, Hélène Rolles duet with Dorothée, Claude François.