"Begin the Beguine" is a song written by Cole Porter. Porter composed the song at the piano in the bar of the Ritz Hotel in Paris. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Knight in the Broadway musical Jubilee produced at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.
The beguine music and dance form, a slow, close couples' dance, comes from the Caribbean, especially Martinique and Guadeloupe, where in the local Creole language the name means "White lady". It is a combination of French ballroom dance and Latin folk dance, which became popular in Paris and spread further abroad in the 1940s, largely due to the influence of the Porter song. Based on the title dance, the song is notable for its 108-measure length, departing drastically from the conventional thirty-two-bar form. Where a typical "standard" popular song of its time was written in a fairly strict 32-measure form consisting of two or three eight-measure subjects generally arranged in the form A-A-B-A or A-B-A-C, "Begin the Beguine" employs the form A-A-B-A-C1-C2 with each phrase being sixteen measures in length rather than the usual eight. The final "C2" section is stretched beyond its 16 measures an additional twelve bars for a total of 28 measures, with the twelve additional measures providing a sense of finality to the long form.
The slight differences in each of the "A" sections, along with the song's long phrases and final elongated "C2" section at the end, give it unique character and complexity. The fact that the song's individual parts hold up melodically and harmonically over such a long form also attests to Porter's talent and ability as a songwriter.
Porter reportedly once said of the song, "I can never remember it - if I want to play I need to see the music in front of me!" Alec Wilder described it in his book American Popular Song: The Great Innovators 1900-1950 as "a maverick, an unprecedented experiment and one which, to this day, after hearing it hundreds of times, I cannot sing or whistle or play from start to finish without the printed music".
Ella's accompanied by Buddy Bregman & His Orchestra. Recorded February 8, 1956, Capitol Studios, Hollywood. (Verve Records)
When they begin the beguine
It brings back the sound of music so tender,
It brings back a night of tropical splendor,
It brings back a memory ever green.
I`m with you once more under the stars,
And down by the shore an orchestra`s playing
And even the palms seem to be swaying
When they begin the beguine.
To live it again is past all endeavor,
Except when that tune clutches my heart,
And there we are, swearing to love forever,
And promising never, never to part.
What moments divine, what rapture serene,
'Til clouds came along to disperse the joys we had tasted,
And now when I hear people curse the chance that was wasted,
I know but too well what they mean;
So don`t let them begin the beguine
Let the love that was once a fire remain an ember;
Let it sleep like the dead desire I only remember
When they begin the beguine.
Oh yes, let them begin the beguine, make them play
'Til the stars that were there before return above you,
'Til you whisper to me once more,
Darling, I love you!
And we suddenly know What heaven we`re in,
When they begin the beguine
When they begin the beguine
21 ноя 2011
