Confetti, streamers, parades, jokes … alas this year, Carnival will not be the usual party, full of joy and entertainment. Once again, our children must deprive themselves of a little freedom by postponing the big celebrations until next year. But we, the parents, can always surprise them and organize something at home, offer games, costumes, magic tricks, put on music, dance and sing. And just between one game and another, Ocarina advises you to listen to a song that is both fun and with refined artistic subtleties. We are talking about The Carnival of the Animals, a funny and irreverent play, written by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns in 1886, on the occasion of a Carnival with friends. The work is written for two pianos and a small orchestra (flute, piccolo, clarinet, xylophone and string quintet). The play includes 14 short compositions that describe the characteristics of certain animals in a fun and ironic way. A series of very clear portraits and caricatures that form a zoological musical fantasy.

The Carnival of the Animals is very frequently used in music schools to teach students to recognize the timbre of instruments, to learn to listen attentively and critically and to develop knowledge of the basic elements of musical language. The play actually has a very precise and easy to understand structure. Some of the musical themes used are not original either, but come from songs by other musicians.

The first piece is preceded by a brief introduction to the rhythm of the march marked by two pianos announcing the arrival of the proud king of the forest. In the 12th and 13th pieces, Fossils and The Swan, the fossils are recalled by the dry sound of the xylophone and represent a “prehistoric” incarnation of music critics, unable to understand the new course of music due to their vitiated mentality. Here, Saint-Saëns makes mention of his Danse macabre et The Barber of Seville by Rossini. The famous swan song is played on the cello and accompanied by the arpeggios of the two pianos, it evokes a fantastic atmosphere but in reality it is a subtle parody of affectionate and sentimental melodies. The Finale is a very joyful rondo, based on a perky motif played by the piccolo and the clarinet and on certain themes already present in the piece, which concludes The Carnival of the Animals in a festive and triumphant way, making them all scroll together as in a circus.

Here you can download the 14 songs of The Carnival of the Animals :

Here is the video with the animations of the great animator Eric Goldberg:

In a few days arrives the Befana, the old lady so beloved by all children and also by Ocarina! Toys, sweets, chocolates – onions and charcoal are never lacking so – the Befana flies over the rooftops with her broom and, descending into the chimneys, fills the stockings with all kinds of surprises. As the song says: “La Befana comes at night with her torn shoes, she flies over all the rooftops, carrying dolls and candies. On her shoulders, she carries a lot of gifts and she puts them on the fireplaces, smiling she brings sweets and gifts for children… ”.

The ‘Befana’ tradition   
The ‘Befana’ history begins in the dawn of time and descends from magical pagan traditions, linked to the seasonal cycles of agriculture, and relating to the harvest of the past year, ready to resume its cycle every year. Indeed, on the twelfth night after the winter solstice, the death and rebirth of nature is celebrated through Mother Nature.
In Roman times, the Befana embodies one of the female figures who fly at night over sown fields to promote crop fertility. His broom represents the symbol of the purification of evil spirits, in anticipation of the season rebirth. According to some, it is Diana, the lunar goddess of wild game and vegetation, who led these nocturnal walks, followed by figures similar to those that were called, in the Middle Ages, witches.

From the 4th century AD the Church will condemn pagan rites by trying to absorb them in its own tradition. Thus the Befana becomes an affectionate old woman, represented on a flying broom with a knotted shawl of thick wool and not with the black hat, who flies in the sky riding the broom upside down.
His character also becomes closely related to those of the Three Kings. The Legend tells that on a very cold winter night, Baldassare, Gasparre and Melchiorre, on the long way to Bethlehem to see the Child Jesus, unable to find the way, asked for information from an old woman who showed them the path. The Three Kings then invited the woman to join them, but, despite the insistence, she refused. Once the Three Kings were gone, she wished she had followed them, so she packed a bag full of candies and started looking for them, but to no avail. The old lady then knocked on every door, giving every child she met candies, in the hope that one of them was the Child Jesus.

La Befana in Italy
Epiphany has always been a religious holiday in Italy, although it is also celebrated as a secular holiday. Today, after a period when it had been somewhat forgotten, Befana has come back to life, especially in the regions of central Italy. This nice old woman is therefore living a second youth, linked to the rediscovery and enhancement of roots and the most authentic cultural identity.
In Urbania, in the Marche region, the ” Epiphany National Day” has been celebrated for twenty years and there is the official House of Befana.
In Florence, Epiphany is celebrated with the traditional Cavalcade of the Magi, a reconstruction of the arrival of the Magi of the Holy Family in the streets of the historic center, on horseback, dressed in Renaissance costumes of great splendor.

In the province of Grosseto there are the Befani (on the island of Elba, they are called Befanotti); men who, on Epiphany day, accompany the Befanas in the streets of the villages to interpret some Maremma traditional songs.
But even outside of Tuscany, Epiphany is celebrated on January 6. In Veneto, there’s a symbolic bonfire called “panevin”; it is a fire that erases all the negative things from the past year. In Venice, takes place the characteristic Befana Regatta which has reached its forty-second edition in 2020, during which contenders dressed in Befana, Marantega in dialect, compete with oars in the Canal Grande, dressed in skirts, woolen shawl, hat and handkerchief on the head.

La Befana in the world
Unlike Italy, in France, on January 6, children do not receive sweets or stockings, but the tradition tells about a special cake, the “Galette des Rois “, with a surprise bean inside. The dessert is divided into as many slices as there are guests at the table, plus a part reserved for a poor person in case he shows up at the door. The lucky one who finds the bean becomes the king or queen of the party!
No stockings, no old brooms, no charcoal either for kids in the UK, where the Twelfth Night is celebrated with a performance of characters from English folklore, like the Holly Man, a green elf decorated with green leaves, holly and flowers. The typical dessert is the Twelfth Night Cake, a delicacy filled with almonds and candied fruit. Inside are hidden a bean and a pea to elect the king and queen of the party!

Instead, Spanish and Germans follow a celebration more similar to Italy. The little ones on January 6 wake up very early to run to see the gifts that the Three Kings have left them. The day before, they leave some water in front of the door for the thirsty camels, along with something to eat.

Thirteen Santa Clauses arrive in Spain from December 11th to 25th, one per day, and from Christmas on, they leave one per day. January 6 the last Santa Claus leaves the town and marks the end of the Christmas holidays. The Epiphany is celebrated with a torchlight procession, to which, in addition to the thirteenth Santa, also participate the king and the queen of the elves. The torchlight procession ends with a bonfire and fireworks.
In Russia, on the other hand, Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on Epiphany Day, January 6. On this anniversary, children anxiously await their gifts, brought by Santa Claus, called Father Gelo, accompanied by Babuschka, a kind old lady…

Today Ocarina dedicates our listening tip of the week to the Pibe de oro, Diego Armando Maradona, who died a few days ago and cried around the world. “If I were Maradona, I would live like him”, begins the song sung by French musician Manu Chao, entitled La Vida Tómbola. One of the most moving pieces that has never been dedicated to the Argentinian champion and which is part of the soundtrack of the documentary film ‘Maradona’ by Emir Kusturica. La Vida Tómbola will then be sung by the French artist who, with his group Mano Negra, in 1994 had already dedicated to Diego the piece Santa Maradona in the album La Radiolina.

And the day of the footballer’s death, Manu Chao resubmitted the song on his Instagram profile, going with it all around the web. The text traces the unique parable of the ‘hand of dios’,  honoring positively and negatively all his excess: “If I were Maradona / I would live like him / Because the world is a ball / Who lives on the surface”. In the video – taken from the Kusturica documentary – that we feature below, an emotional Manu Chao appears in front of his idol Diego Armando, satisfied wearing sunglasses. And the emotion is also evident on the face of the champion.

Here you can buy La Vida Tómbola

Today, Ocarina is a little melancholy and listens to  Comptine d’un autre été: L’Après Midi, a famous song and recurring motif in the film  The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain, a French cinema milestone. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the film was released in 2001, making millions of viewers fall in love with its original, visionary and also colorful way of looking at the world. A modern and old fable at the same time which tells the life of the unforgettable character of Amélie Poulain with a poetic and ironic sensibility.

The soundtrack is also very famous, written by the French multi-instrumentalist Yann Tiersen and composed of 20 tracks. Full of delicacy and reverie, it was created with a predominance of piano and accordion and with playful instruments – the toy piano, the music box or the mandolin – a perfect reflection of the dreamy and fluctuating mood of the protagonist.

Comptine d’un autre été: L’Après Midi is one of the songs of the original soundtrack performed entirely on the piano, very delicate and relaxing, which suggests freedom and hope for better days. In fact, in the film this song accompanies the moments of uncertainty (but also of despair) of Amélie.

Here you can buy the song

Here below the video

For Christmas 2020, Ocarina presents the playlist World Lullabies – Lullabies of the World, a new OcarinaSound audio project which aims to stimulate children to explore and become familiar with different cultures, through gentle ‘lullabies of peace’ sung around the world. We start from the European tradition to reach the Middle East with lullabies in Hebrew and Arabic.

The playlist contains 6 lullabies from 6 different countries: Italy, France, England, Spain, Israel and Palestine. The World Lullabies production saw the participation of 5 singers and 3 musicians engaged in the use of a rich range of instruments; from piano, xylophone and guitar to oud, ukulele and sitar to name a few.

The Playlist can be purchased and downloaded from Ocarinadj, the audio section of www.ocarinaplayer.com

The project sees the collaboration of the Maternity of the Saint Joseph Hospital of Jerusalem (known locally as the ‘French Hospital’), where both Muslim and Jewish women go to give birth. And precisely to this very particular structure, a place where harmony and tolerance reign between different cultures and religions, Ocarina has donated some players which will be offered to new parents to make their children listen to lullabies and many more other pieces dedicated to relaxation and sleep.

World Lullabies project starts from the assumption that the ‘lullaby’ is an instrument of peace, of sharing: all children, wherever they are born and whatever language they speak, share the universal language of poetry through music. Everything is now codified, homologated, but lullabies are part of all civilizations, crossing the borders of time and nations.

Recent is the discovery of a lullaby from 2,500 years ago, the text of which is engraved on a digital board that was recovered 160 kilometers from Baghdad. One of the earliest examples of a lullaby sung most likely by a nanny (although often sweet songs were also sung directly by one of the parents and sometimes by both together). The words used are poetic and wish the little one the same “sleep of a tired gazelle”, asking him to doze off like “the shepherd in the middle of his watch”. Examples from nature or rural life that help the little ones to relax and find a peaceful sleep.

As the years go by, customs and traditions change, but it seems that lullabies and parents’ desire to rock their children remain stable with their love.

Sophrology is a relatively recent discipline, born in the early 60s, which helps the mind and body relax. Alfonso Caycedo, Colombian neuropsychiatrist, considered the founder of sophrology, defines it as a ‘pedagogy of happiness’, precisely because it aims to help each individual to develop his own consciousness and psychophysical harmony through relaxation techniques, physical and mental, as well as deep bodily and respiratory movements.

In recent years, Sophrology has also been widely used with children: in the educational field to develop attention and memory, and in the sports to increase concentration, motivation and manage forms of stress.

In this regard, Melanie Butruille, French sophrologist, specialized in supporting children, who uses Ocarina in her work, tells us about her therapeutic experience with children. A work which, in this period of strong emotional stress, is becoming more and more known and necessary, even for the little ones. Parents often ask for her help for several reasons, such as helping their children to learn to relax, to concentrate, to manage anger, to promote falling asleep …

Music is certainly a very valuable tool to help children relax, such  that Mathilde Butruille uses it in each of her sessions, favoring the sounds of nature, such as rain, wind and waves, able to transmit security and tranquility.

She asks children to choose the sound of nature that evokes positive memories in them, and then perform breathing exercises.

Music is essential during therapeutic sessions but also at home, to promote relaxation and falling asleep. Mathilde Butruille tells us that she often records a session or a sophronic story directly on Ocarina so that the children can listen to it again at home.

Among the tips she gives parents to help their children relax, one is to record their favorite story with their own voice, so that the child can continue to listen to mom and dad voices independently, directly in his bed. In this sense, Ocarina is an ideal instrument, capable of giving authentic moments of serenity.

We would like to thank for her contribution Melanie Butruille, sophrologist, specialized in ‘child support’.

The 100th anniversary of the birth of Gianni Rodari has been celebrated on October 23d, 2020. An important date that Ocarina also wishes to celebrate to commemorate the great master whose intelligence, imagination, creativity and extreme topicality never get tired.

Many times on The pOnd, Ocarina’s blog, we have spoken about Gianni Rodari, we have listened to his rhymes, his stories, and told about events and exhibitions dedicated to him. In the Ocamerone section of our web site it is possible to listen and download stories from Fiabe al telefono, read by Ocarina’s friends.

In these days marked by waves of fear and uncertainty, we want to commemorate him with a rhyme, taken from the collection Filastrocche per tutto l’Anno, which conveys his positivity: Hope, conceived as something extremely precious , should be distributed to everyone!

A Hope which, as Rodari writes, should be ‘affordable’. This is because it is a feeling, a real ‘spring’ of life, which pushes to do more, to move forward. And all of this is certainly something that even the poorest deserve to have.

Se io avessi una botteguccia

fatta di una sola stanza

vorrei mettermi a vendere

sai cosa? La speranza.

“Speranza a buon mercato!”

Per un soldo ne darei

ad un solo cliente

quanto basta per sei.

E alla povera gente

che non ha da campare

darei tutta la mia speranza

senza fargliela pagare.

Here you can buy the rhyme performed by Stefano Panzarasa, Head of the Environmental Education Service in the Lucretili Mountains Regional Natural Park, who conveyed Gianni Rodari’s eco-pacifist message to schools (with his inseparable guitar).

Below the video