Subdeacon Joe Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 My wife emailed this to me. Lovely. Quote Riu, Riu, Chiu is a Spanish "villancico" published in 1556 that has attained some contemporary fame as a Christmas carol. A villancico was a popular form for song in post-Renaissance Spain. This carol became one of the more widely known such works in its time; versions of it today often contain updated translations to filter out its archaic words and meanings. The author of this carol is generally thought to be anonymous, but its text, possibly originally written in Portuguese, has been attributed by some to Mateo Flecha (1481-1553). The melody to Riu, riu, chiu probably dates to the fifteenth century or earlier. The song has crossed over to popular performance, and appears on Christmas themed collections, including David Archuleta's Christmas from the Heart, Sixpence None the Richer's The Dawn of Grace, Bruce Cockburn's Christmas, and an instrumental version on Bradley Joseph's Christmas Around the World album. The song appears on The Kingston Trio's 1961 album Goin' Places, listed as "Guardo el Lobo," and credited to musicologist Dr. Erich Schwandt. In 1967 The Monkees performed the song live on a Christmas episode of their TV series, "The Monkees' Christmas Show". A studio version was released on subsequent compilation albums. It is believed they learned the song from their producer, Chip Douglas who himself performed it with his former band The Modern Folk Quartet on their 1964 album. Another iteration by a different group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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