Does Anyone Know the Lyrics to an Austrian Tune called the “Song of the Three Holy Kings”?
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Does Anyone Know the Lyrics to an Austrian Tune called the “Song of the Three Holy Kings”?
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008Ed Gawlinski wrote:
I found among my music an Austrian folk song called “Song of the Three Holy Kings”… but I don’t have the words either in German or English to this. It sounds like a very nice tune. Perhaps someone might recognize it and provide the words.
Ed
Here’s the tune Ed sent me:
If anyone can help out with the original lyrics to this song and/or an English translation, please comment below.
Thanks in advance!
Lisa
The St. Nicholas Tradition in Poland and a Way to Teach Your Children about Holiday Customs Around the World
Wednesday, December 5th, 2007Ed Gawlinski wrote to me about his family’s holiday traditions. His letter shows how you can be creative and expose your children to many different customs around the world at this time of year…
Lisa,
The Polish Custom is for Saint Nicholas (świętego Mikołaja) to bring children presents on December 6th …. The traditions that go with this parallel those in Germany, Austria, and elsewhere in Europe. I found a short poem for Saint Nicholas that you might enjoy.
“On St. Nicholas Day,
The band of children waits;
For the good cookie he brings,
But for the naughty a switch that stings.”Na świętego Mikołaja,
czeka dzieci cała zgraja,
Da posłusznym ciasteczko,
Złe przekropi różeczką.I also have a story about Saint Nicholas. We would give our kids little gifts on Saint Nichols Day, Saint Lucia Day, Three Kings Day, etc. Our son-in-law referred to this as the 45 days of Gawlinski Christmas… One year as Saint Nichols day approached our second child, Allison was not being well behaved. She didn’t get a Saint Nicholas day present that morning. By noon, we had found where St. Nick hid the present. From then on, until well after Christmas, she was the best behaved little girl you ever saw.
Edward M. Gawlinski
Giving little gifts on the different international holidays gives you an opportunity to explain to kids how people do things differently around the world. You could also give a gift for a day of Chanukah and the Indian festival of Diwali (if you don’t celebrate these holidays already).
Feel free to comment below or email me to share your holiday customs with us!
-Lisa
Kings Day in France and a Recipe for French Kings Cake
Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007Kings Day is also known as the Epiphany and takes place on January 6th. It’s the day the Three Kings are said to have presented their gifts to Jesus.
In France, Kings Day is called Le jour des rois or La fête des rois. In honor of this day they eat Galette des Rois or Kings Cake. Last year I wrote about this fun little French fête and posted a recording of the song J’aime la galette or I Love Cake!
The cake they eat most traditionally in northern France is a flat round cake with an almond/butter filling called frangipane. The tradition is to bake a trinket or bean inside the cake. It’s called la fève in French, which means broad bean. That’s because originally they always baked a real broad bean inside the cake. Now the trinket is also called la fève.
Whoever gets the slice with la fève is King or Queen for the day. They’re given a golden cardboard crown to wear all day long. Their duty as king or queen is to buy or make the next galette des rois!
Since trinkets are hard to find outside of France, Spain and New Orleans (where they have a similar tradition), a good alternative is a whole almond (without the shell of course).
Here’s a delicious recipe for Galette des Rois…
Recipe for Kings Cake – Galette des Rois
Tart Pan about 10 inches in diameter
2 layers of Puff Pastry*
7/8 cup grinded Almonds
1 cup Powdered Sugar
7 T. + 1 1/2 t. softened Butter (just under 1 stick)
2 Egg Yolks + 1 Yolk (keep one of the yolks separate)
A little Milk
2 T. Rum (optional) or 1 1/4 t. Orange Flower Water (optional)1 Fève – trinket, bean or nut (must I say it? be careful – could be a choking hazard!)
*I bought the Pepperidge Farm brand puff pastry which comes in square sheets. If your puff pastry comes in square sheets or doesn’t fit your tart pan, you’ll need to roll it out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. I’ll explain how below.
1) If you bought frozen puff pastry, thaw it in advance according to the directions on the package.
2) Pre-heat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Grease the tart pan with butter.
3) Mix all ingredients except for 1 egg yolk (and puff pastry) with electric whisk until creamy.
4) Stretch puff pastry with the rolling pin, on a lightly floured surface, until it fits the pan going up the sides (even a little more) and spread the first layer of puff pastry in the pan. Prick with a fork.
5) Spread the cream filling evenly on the first layer of puff pastry and bury the trinket into it.
6) Roll out the 2nd layer of puff pastry with the rolling pin to make it big enough to fit over the first layer. Moisten the rim of the 1st layer of puff pastry with water and cover the first layer with the second layer of puff pastry.
7) Pass the rolling pin on the edge of the pan to cut off the excess dough, then press the two edges together with your finger to make them stick.
8) Make some little holes in the top to allow the steam out or the rim will burst and the filling will overflow.
9) Draw diamonds or half circles starting from the center to the rim like in the diagram below.
10) Brush the top with the 3rd yolk mixed with a small amount of milk. This will give it a nice golden color.
Bake in oven for around 25 minutes. Check from 20 minutes until baked a nice golden brown.
Here are the metric equivalents of the ingredients:
125g Grinded Almonds
125g Powdered Sugar
100g Softened ButterI made this recipe with Orange Flower Water which I purchased on the internet at The Spice House. It gave the Galette des Rois a very unique taste.
Many thanks to Monique Palomares of Mama Lisa’s World en français and Monique’s former colleague Geneviève for the delicious recipe! Thanks also to Monique for her explanation of the tradition and for the diagram and to Monique’s Class of 2006 for the wonderful recording of J’aime la galette.
Merci et bon appétit!
-Lisa
“La fête des rois” or Kings Day in France
Friday, January 6th, 2006Today is Kings Day in France. It celebrates the visit of the three Wise Kings to Jesus.
Monique from France wrote…
Friends generally gather to share a galette or a royaume (kingdom, that’s the way the King’s Cake, a ring cake without filling, is called in Southern France). The one who finds the trinket inside the cake has to buy another cake, then the group gathers again and so on. We eat it with cider or sparkling wine or pétillant de raisin. We may do that at our working place too. That’s why you can find cakes for sale long after January 6th.
Here’s a photo of a royaume from southern France…
This tradition is also celebrated in Quebec and New Orleans.
Many thanks to Monique of Mama Lisa’s World en français for the photo and the interesting commentary.
On January 6th, The Three Wise Men Leave Gifts for Children in Spain
Thursday, January 5th, 2006January 6th is the Epiphany. It’s the day the baptism of Christ is celebrated.
January 6th is also the Day of the Three Magi Kings or Wise Men. Their names are Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. The Epiphany is celebrated in some countries as the day the three wise men visited the infant baby Jesus. This is especially important in Spain and other Hispanic cultures around the world, where the day is called Fiesta de Los Tres Reyes Mages.
The Day of the Three Magi is celebrated like Christmas in Spain. It’s the day the children are given presents. On the night of the 5th, instead of stockings, kids leave their shoes out, stuffed with straw. It’s not Santa who comes in the middle of the night leaving the children presents. Instead, it’s the three magi who come bringing gifts for the kids, just like they gave the baby Jesus presents in honor of his birth. The straw in the children’s shoes is for the Wise Men’s camels to eat.
To celebrate the Epiphany in Spain there are also often parades featuring the three magi…
The special food that is eaten on the Epiphany is called Roscón de Reyes, meaning “twisted roll of kings”. It’s a loaf in the shape of a crown with fruit and nuts on top and filled with chocolate or whipped cream. There’s supposed to be a gold coin inside it. It’s said that the person who finds the coin will have good luck throughout the upcoming year.
Hear the song called Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar from Argentina.
Happy Epiphany!
Lisa
The Epiphany, Kings Day and King’s Cake with MP3 of “J’aime la galette”
Wednesday, January 4th, 2006The Twelve Days of Christmas actually start on Christmas and go up to the Epiphany, on January 6th.
Here’s the legend: The Three Wise Men saw the star of Bethlehem on the day Jesus was born. It took them the time between Christmas and the Epiphany to find Jesus and present him with the gifts. Epiphany literally means manifestation. Thus, the Epiphany is the manifestation of Christ to the Three Kings.
In France, January 6th is also called La fête des rois or Kings Day.
Since the Middle Ages, in celebration of the Epiphany, French people have Galettes des Rois. Galette des Rois is called King’s Cake in English. In the north of France it’s a round cake with an almond/butter filling called frangipane. In the south of France, King’s Cake is called a royaume and is made in the shape of a ring, representing a crown, and topped with glazed fruit and icing. Hidden inside the King’s Cake is a small trinket called a fève. Whoever finds the fève is given a paper crown and gets to be king or queen for the day!
Here’s a song called J’aime la galette, or I Love Cake, in French and with an English translation and sung by Monique’s first grade class…
MP3 of J’aime la galette – I Love Cake!J’aime la galette
(French)J’aime la galette,
Savez-vous comment ?
Quand elle bien faite
Avec du beurre dedans.
Trala la la la la la la lère,
Tra la la la la la la la la,
Tra la la la la la la la lère,
Tra la la la la la la la la.I Love Cake
(English)I love cake,
Do you know how?
When it’s made well,
With butter inside!
Tra la la la la la la la lère,
Tra la la la la la la la la,
Tra la la la la la la la lère,
Tra la la la la la la la la.It’s interesting to note that the tradition of eating King’s Cake is also followed in New Orleans in the U.S. There, King’s cake is a ring cake made with cinnamon dough and topped with icing. The icing is purple for justice, green for faith and gold for power.
King’s Cake is eaten in New Orleans throughout the Mardi Gras season, which begins on the Epiphany. A small baby, representing Jesus, is hidden inside the New Orleans version of King’s Cake. Whoever finds the baby is supposed to have good luck.
Recipe for Galettes des Rois in English.
Here’s a recipe in French… Gâteau des rois
Many thanks to Monique of Mama Lisa’s World en français for pointing out the tradition of Galettes des Rois in France, and to Monique’s class for the wonderful recording of J’aime la galette.
Happy Fête des Rois!
Lisa
Come visit the Mama Lisa’s World France page for more French children’s songs with their English translations and…
Mama Lisa’s World en français for children’s songs around the world with their French translations.
In Italy, on January 6th, Befana Comes with Gifts for Kids for the Epiphany
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2006“Befana” is Italian for “Epiphany”. It’s also the name of a character from an interesting legend that strongly influenced the Italian traditions for celebrating this holiday.
On their way to deliver gifts to the baby Jesus, the Three Wise Men came across a woman named Befana. They asked her to come with them, but she refused, saying she had too much housework to do. Later she realized she was wrong. She ran off with her broom in search of the Magi, bearing her own presents for the baby Jesus. But she never caught up to them. It’s said that Befana is still searching for the baby Jesus.
In Italy, it’s Befana, and not Santa Claus, who goes around giving gifts to all the children, in imitation of the Three Wise men bringing gifts to Jesus.
Befana looks like a friendly witch, with a mole on her face and in tattered clothes. She flies on a broom and goes down the chimneys to deliver gifts to all the children.
Here’s a nursery song children chant in Italy for La Befana in Italian and with an English translation…
La Befana vien di notte
La Befana vien di notte
con le scarpe tutte rotte
col cappello alla romana
viva viva la Befana!The Befana Comes at Night
The Befana comes at night
In worn out shoes
Dressed like a Roman
Long live the Befana!Happy Befana Day!
Lisa
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