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Vox Populi

By Mark Chilla
Published September 23, 2019 at 3:50 PM EDT

This week, we're listening to the voice of the people, in an all folk-song episode we're calling " Vox Populi."

Did you know…

  • "Ah, Vous Dirai-Je, Maman," a French folk tune, was turned into a set of variations by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. We know the tune today as "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."!

  • Béla Bartók, who wrote many pieces based on folk melodies, was one of the founders of the academic field of ethnomusicology.

  • Glenn Miller and his Orchestra turned the Russian folk song "Song of the Volga Boatmen" into a number 1 hit in 1941, because it was in the public domain and radio stations were boycotting ASCAP.

    • See the full playlist below.

    And  listen to this week's podcast!