Week 3: Májko, májko zelená

Gone are the days of winter, and the cold chill - now is the time for playing outside in the balmy, temperate climate of Czechoslovakia. "Májko, májko zelená"is the fifth piece from Jaro Se Otvira (Spring is Coming),  a cycle for men's choir and violin written by Zdenek Lukas [personal site]. This work has been selected for performance by the Texas All-State Men's Choir in February, 2015. As fate has provided, this piece of music is one of the pieces that I am teaching as a section leader at the Austin Community College All-State Choir Camp this week, the week that we find our focus in MUH 6935 on discussing the role of context in musical structure. This piece is an interesting study, as it is written in the key of C, but functions in what feels and reads like D Major, with F sharps written throughout. The lack of use of the C sharp leading tone, and avoidance for much of the work of the fourth scale degree imply a pentatonic scale, which in this work reminds me of an American "Southern Harmony" feel. As I was teaching the work, students were instructed to read the piece on solfedge in the key of D, and to interpret any sharps on F or C as Fa or Ti. Students immediately made the harmonic context connections to their major scale, most notably when the C Sharps appeared near cadential endings. From a structural standpoint, the singers noticed the following connections:

• Baritones have the story telling role in the verse
• First Tenors sing the chorus melody
• Basses imitate a "bass guitar" of some sort, due to the rhythm and sound

The singers had difficulty making the text connection to their own culture. Majko, translated, means "maypole," which is used in several European societies as a mechanism for partner and group dancing at festivals. There is no similar type dance or festival setting in our general area. Also lost on them was the concept of celebrating Spring, as in our area, cold does not mean months of ice and snow, but just another month of 80 degree weather. Thus the celebratory nature of the text was lost. Once these contextual clues were discussed, the overall context of the music was reflected in their singing in a much more celebratory way. After teaching this piece, I feel even more convinced that after careful discussion of the meanings of the cultural Czech elements listed in the story that we provide musical and societal connections to our students and their own musical ideals.