Alan Lomax Archive | Rocco Cannovino and fishermen: U Leva Leva (tuna-fishing chantey) (1954) @AlanLomaxArchive | Uploaded January 2021 | Updated October 2024, 1 day ago.
Performed by Rocco Cannovino, Salvatore Canduci, Onofrio Lopresti, with a chorus of Calabrian and Sicilian fishermen. Recorded by Alan Lomax and Diego Carpitella in Vibo Valentia Marina, Calabria, Italy, on August 3, 1954.
Note by Goffredo Plastino, 1999:
Until recently there were nine tonnare (tuna fishing crews) operating in the Gulf of Sant’ Eufemia, among them that of Vibo Valentia Marina, where Lomax and Carpitella made several recordings of work songs. The last tonnara, at Pizzo, ceased operating in 1963. “U leva leva” was sung during the levata, or raising of the net, the part of the fishing immediately preceding the mattanza, or butchery, of the tuna. Driven by barriers made by the nets, the fish, after going through several intermediate “chambers,” entered the so-called camera della morte or death chamber, the only one with a net at the bottom. When their number was deemed sufficient, their every way of exit was barred and the raising of the net began. The men lifted it from the bottom with the help of a capstan, causing the death chamber enclosure to become smaller and smaller. They then quickly harpooned the fish as they emerged from the water and heaved them onto the barge. The laborious task was accompanied by the cadence of a responsorial song, in which a chorus answers a soloist, who sets the rhythm of the circular pace around the capstan and hence of the work.
The repertoire of the 1954 Vibo Marina tonnara was reconstructed for this recording. The fishermen put out to sea and mimed the levata and part of the mattanza, turning around a capstan and weaving their work procedures into their formalized musical performance for the benefit of the two
ethnomusicologists.
Lomax recalled:
”I remember one day when I set up the battered old Magnecord on a tuna-fishing barge, fifteen miles out on the glassy blue Mediterranean. No tuna had come into the underwater trap for months, and the fishermen had not been paid for almost a year. Yet they bawled out their capstan chanteys as if they were actually hauling in a rich catch, and a certain point slapped their bare feet on the deck, simulating exactly the dying convulsions of a dozen tuna. Then, on hearing the playback, they applauded their own performance like so many opera singers.”
U leva leva
e tiramul’ a rancata
e tiramul’ a rancata
oh leva leva
oh leva leva leva
rispondimu a tutta vuci
oh leva leva e leva leva leva
rispondimu a tutta vuci
u leva leva leva
assumamula di fundu
u leva leva e leva leva leva
rispundimu a tutta vuci
u leva leva e leva leva leva
facimu prestu c’arrivau
facimu prestu c’arrivau
u leva leva
’Port’ a nava’ mu rispundi
’Port’ a nava’ mu rispundi
u leva leva
’Cola nnitu’ mu rispundi
e ’Cola nnitu’ mu rispundi
u leva leva e leva leva leva
rispundimu a tutta vuci
u leva leva
u leva leva
u leva leva
u leva le’
u leva leva
tiramu a rancata
tiramu a rancata
u leva leva
u leva leva
facimu prestu
facimu prestu
ma c’arrivau
u leva leva
’spundimu a la vuci
’spundimu a la vuci
u leva leva
ah là
ah là
u leva leva
u leva leva
facimu iornata
facimu iornata
ca arza lu suli
facimu iornata
ca arza lu suli
u leva leva
u leva leva
facimu prestu
ma c’abbrahavi
facimu prestu
ma c’abbrahavi
ah là
ah là
sumamu di fundu
sumamu di fundu
sumamu di fundu
ca esta a piccu
ma puru l’ancura
ca esta a piccu
ma puru l’ancura
u leva leva
u leva leva
facimu prestu
facimu prestu
mi gira la testa
mi gira la testa
ca caiu a mari
ca caiu a mari
u leva leva
u leva leva
tiramu a rancata
tiramu a rancata
ca venanu avanti
ca venanu avanti
oh…
Translation:
Pull, pull —
Heave, heave [raise the net]!
Pull without stopping (step lively)
Answer with full voice,
Pull it up from the bottom!
Hurry up, it’s coming!
Let ‘Porta la nave’ [nickname] answer!
Let ‘Nicola anice’ [another nickname] answer! Let’s answer the call!
Let’s make a day of it,
the sun is rising!
Quickly now,
I’m getting hoarse!
Raise it from the bottom,
It’s sharp now,
the anchor, too!
Hurry up,
My head is spinning,
I’m about to fall overboard!
Pull without stopping,
Let them come forward!
Performed by Rocco Cannovino, Salvatore Canduci, Onofrio Lopresti, with a chorus of Calabrian and Sicilian fishermen. Recorded by Alan Lomax and Diego Carpitella in Vibo Valentia Marina, Calabria, Italy, on August 3, 1954.
Note by Goffredo Plastino, 1999:
Until recently there were nine tonnare (tuna fishing crews) operating in the Gulf of Sant’ Eufemia, among them that of Vibo Valentia Marina, where Lomax and Carpitella made several recordings of work songs. The last tonnara, at Pizzo, ceased operating in 1963. “U leva leva” was sung during the levata, or raising of the net, the part of the fishing immediately preceding the mattanza, or butchery, of the tuna. Driven by barriers made by the nets, the fish, after going through several intermediate “chambers,” entered the so-called camera della morte or death chamber, the only one with a net at the bottom. When their number was deemed sufficient, their every way of exit was barred and the raising of the net began. The men lifted it from the bottom with the help of a capstan, causing the death chamber enclosure to become smaller and smaller. They then quickly harpooned the fish as they emerged from the water and heaved them onto the barge. The laborious task was accompanied by the cadence of a responsorial song, in which a chorus answers a soloist, who sets the rhythm of the circular pace around the capstan and hence of the work.
The repertoire of the 1954 Vibo Marina tonnara was reconstructed for this recording. The fishermen put out to sea and mimed the levata and part of the mattanza, turning around a capstan and weaving their work procedures into their formalized musical performance for the benefit of the two
ethnomusicologists.
Lomax recalled:
”I remember one day when I set up the battered old Magnecord on a tuna-fishing barge, fifteen miles out on the glassy blue Mediterranean. No tuna had come into the underwater trap for months, and the fishermen had not been paid for almost a year. Yet they bawled out their capstan chanteys as if they were actually hauling in a rich catch, and a certain point slapped their bare feet on the deck, simulating exactly the dying convulsions of a dozen tuna. Then, on hearing the playback, they applauded their own performance like so many opera singers.”
U leva leva
e tiramul’ a rancata
e tiramul’ a rancata
oh leva leva
oh leva leva leva
rispondimu a tutta vuci
oh leva leva e leva leva leva
rispondimu a tutta vuci
u leva leva leva
assumamula di fundu
u leva leva e leva leva leva
rispundimu a tutta vuci
u leva leva e leva leva leva
facimu prestu c’arrivau
facimu prestu c’arrivau
u leva leva
’Port’ a nava’ mu rispundi
’Port’ a nava’ mu rispundi
u leva leva
’Cola nnitu’ mu rispundi
e ’Cola nnitu’ mu rispundi
u leva leva e leva leva leva
rispundimu a tutta vuci
u leva leva
u leva leva
u leva leva
u leva le’
u leva leva
tiramu a rancata
tiramu a rancata
u leva leva
u leva leva
facimu prestu
facimu prestu
ma c’arrivau
u leva leva
’spundimu a la vuci
’spundimu a la vuci
u leva leva
ah là
ah là
u leva leva
u leva leva
facimu iornata
facimu iornata
ca arza lu suli
facimu iornata
ca arza lu suli
u leva leva
u leva leva
facimu prestu
ma c’abbrahavi
facimu prestu
ma c’abbrahavi
ah là
ah là
sumamu di fundu
sumamu di fundu
sumamu di fundu
ca esta a piccu
ma puru l’ancura
ca esta a piccu
ma puru l’ancura
u leva leva
u leva leva
facimu prestu
facimu prestu
mi gira la testa
mi gira la testa
ca caiu a mari
ca caiu a mari
u leva leva
u leva leva
tiramu a rancata
tiramu a rancata
ca venanu avanti
ca venanu avanti
oh…
Translation:
Pull, pull —
Heave, heave [raise the net]!
Pull without stopping (step lively)
Answer with full voice,
Pull it up from the bottom!
Hurry up, it’s coming!
Let ‘Porta la nave’ [nickname] answer!
Let ‘Nicola anice’ [another nickname] answer! Let’s answer the call!
Let’s make a day of it,
the sun is rising!
Quickly now,
I’m getting hoarse!
Raise it from the bottom,
It’s sharp now,
the anchor, too!
Hurry up,
My head is spinning,
I’m about to fall overboard!
Pull without stopping,
Let them come forward!
