A young woman floats down the Danube. She doesn't float to sink, but she floats to see if her mother will pity her. Her mother goes up the hill and begins to throw stones: "Sink, sink you devil, you were never mine."
This is where the story ends, unresolved and begging for answers. There is another version of the poem that I found (there are probably many more) in which the young woman keeps on floating and passes by her father next. He also rejects her. Finally she comes to her beloved, who pulls her out of the water and embraces her.
My collaborators on this project were astounding Shira Kammen and incredible Taki Masuko. To enhance the atmosphere of the chilling poem, Taki created a swirl of dramatic and mysterious tones that propel the story forward.
Plovidba was recorded by Rafi Sofer and Joel Edinberg, mixed and mastered by Joel Edinberg. It's available for streaming on Qobuz, Apple, Tidal, Amazon, Spotify, YouTube, and all the other streaming platforms.
Multi-instrumentalist and occasional vocalist Shira Kammen has spent well over half her life exploring the worlds of early and traditional music. Raised by a violinist mom and a scientist dad who was a serious amateur singer, Kammen studied music at the University of California at Berkeley. Across her career she has performed and recorded with countless early-music ensembles and coached countless players in workshops around the country. She is particularly renowned for her skill as an improviser, something she first contemplated as a young player when she realized that not every recording of the same piece sounded the same. She gives credit to her mentor, vielle player Margriet Tindemans, for encouraging her to develop her improvisatory skills.
A Star in the Medieval Firmament
An unconventional and versatile drummer, Masuko remains best known as the source of the "astonishing centrifugal force” and “breathtakingly complex rhythms” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer) that made Ithaca, NY’s The Horse Flies an internationally beloved cult band. His forty+ year career encompasses solo work, recordings, live performances, and collaborations with artists ranging from David Byrne and Les Miserable Brass Band to Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura, Richie Stearns, Sabana Blanca, Tapestry, the Zamir Chorale of Boston, and Telltale Crossing, among many others.
Plovidba
Devojka plovi Dunavom,
Al’ ne plovi da tone,
Veće plovi da vidi,
Hoće li je majka žaliti.
Majka ide na brdo,
Pa se baca kamenom:
“Toni, toni djavole,
Nisi moja ni bila!”
Sailing
A young woman is floating down the Danube,
Floating but not sinking,
Wanting to see
If her mother will have pity for her.
Her mother is climbing up the hill,
And she starts to throw stones:
“Sink, sink you devil,
You were never mine!”