My Hat, It Has Three Corners

The song is sung to the melody of "O mamma, mamma cara", which goes back to a Neapolitan canzonetta.Der Liederquell, {{ISBN|9783795908508}}, pp. 564–565 It is a "remarkable example of a 'wandering melody' that makes its way through the most varied of musical works."Johann Lewalter: Deutsches Kinderlied und Kinderspiel. In Kassel aus Kindermund in Wort und Weise gesammelt. Abhandlung und Anmerkungen von Georg Schläger. Vietor, Kassel 1911, pp. 308–309. Reinhard Keiser is said to have quoted the melody in his singspiel, Der Carneval von Venedig (1707), which was so successful that street lads kept inventing new texts for it.Bruno Aulich: Mondscheinsonate, Katzenfuge und andere merkwürdige Titel und Geschichten über berühmte Musikwerke aus drei Jahrhunderten. Heimeran, Munich, 1966, {{ISBN|3-7765-0002-6}}, p. 175. However the score of this singspiel has been lost,Birgit Kiupel, Cornelia Geissler: [http://mugi.hfmt-hamburg.de/dienstmaedchen/6_verk_welt/2_ver.html Hamburger Dienstmädchen – Trintje, Gesche und die 'verkehrte Welt]. Musik und Gender im Internet, Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, retrieved 14 February 2015 so that this information cannot be verified. Rodolphe Kreutzer used the melody in 1816 in the music for the ballet Le Carnaval de Venise choreographed by Louis Milon.Pasquale Scialò, Francesca Seller: Passatempi musicali: Guillaume Cottrau e la canzone napoletana di primo '800. Guida Editori, 2013, {{ISBN|978-88-6666-201-3}}, p. 135 ({{Google books|owlvMArEkqgC||page=135}}). Niccolò Paganini played variations of this melody in his concerts under the title of "Carnival of Venice", Op. 10 (1829).{{IMSLP|work=Il carnevale di Venezia, Op.10 (Paganini, Niccolò)|cname=Il carnevale di Venezia, Op. 10 (Paganini}}Vittore Castiglioni: Paganini. Biografia. La Pilotta, 1982, {{OCLC|654713870}}, p. 210 ({{Google books|-lgZAQAAIAAJ||page=210}}).International Musicological Society. Congress, Band 3. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1990, S. 1842 ({{Google books|TyZMAAAAYAAJ||page=1842}}). It was thanks to Paganini that the subject enjoyed greater popularity.Matanya Ophee: "Seltenes & Curioses für Guitarre. Variationen über 'Carnaval de Venice' von Nikolai Petrovich Makaroff." In: Gitarre & Laute 4, 1982, Heft 5, pp. 285–293; here: p. 286. Under the title "Souvenir de Paganini" Frédéric Chopin composed his Rondo No. 1 also as a variation on this melody. Other variations on the theme were created inter alia by Johann Strauss the Elder in versions for piano and orchestra respectively,{{IMSLP|work=Erinnerung an Ernst, Op.126 (Strauss Sr., Johann)|cname=Johann Strauss Sr.: "Erinnerung an Ernst", Op. 126}}[https://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.225289&catNum=225289&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=German Erinnerung an Ernst oder Der Carneval in Venedig, op. 126], naxos.com, accessed 24 February 2020 Francisco Tárrega for guitar, Jean-Baptiste Arban for cornet and trumpet and Wilhelm Posse for harp.see "Carnival of Venice (song)" Variations for flute and piano were composed by Giulio Briccialdi (Carnevale di Venezia, Op. 78, c. 1855){{IMSLP|work=Carnevale_di_Venezia%2C_Op.78_(Briccialdi%2C_Giulio)|cname=Carnevale di Venezia, Op. 78 (Briccialdi)}} and Paul Génin (Carnaval de Venise, Op. 14, 1872).{{IMSLP|work=Carnaval de Venise, Op.14 (Génin, Paul-Agricole)|cname=Carnaval de Venise, Op. 14 (Génin)}} The song was also popularised under the title "La bruna gondoletta" as a barcarole.G. B. Apparuti, A. Batacchi: The Singer's Assistant. Vol. 10. William Rushton, Kalkutta 1845, p. 156 ({{Google books|CJJiT0CzUb0C|digitalised|page=156}}). Using this text Julius Benedict and others published concert variations for voice and accompaniments.{{IMSLP|work=Concert variations on Carnival of Venice (Benedict, Julius)|cname=Concert variations on Carnival of Venice (Benedict)}}

The text My hat, it has three corners describes the formerly commonly worn tricorne. Oral records in the German Folk Song Archive go back to the years before 1870.cf. Otto Holzapfel: Liedverzeichnis: Die ältere deutschsprachige populäre Liedüberlieferung ([http://www.volksmusik-archiv.de/vma/de/node/4250 Online-Fassung] on the home page of the Folk Music Archive of the Province of Upper Bavaria; in pdf format; current updates) with further information. The text is first documented in print in the Saarland in 1886,Carl Köhler, John Meier: Volkslieder von Mosel und Saar. volume 1. Niemeyer, Halle 1896, pp. 359 f., note p. 457 ({{archive.org|volksliedervond00meiegoog|Blatt=n373}}) there, however, still based on the melody of the folk song "Wer lieben will, muss leiden".Johann Lewalter: Deutsche Volkslieder: in Niederhessen aus dem Munde des Volkes gesammelt. Issue 5. G. Fritzsche, Hamburg 1890–1894, p. 21 ({{Google books|0b7gerZEb7UC||page=21}})Ludwig Erk, Franz Magnus Böhme (ed.): Deutscher Liederhort. Vol. 2. Breitkopf und Härtel, Leipzig 1893, pp. 432–434 ([http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4134294;view=1up;seq=442 Digitalisat]). The text has also come down to us from West Prussia.Alexander Treichel: Volkslieder und Volksreime aus Westpreußen. Theodor Bertling, Danzig 1895, p. 124 ({{Google books|DdUsAAAAYAAJ||page=124}}). The opening words of the text also appear in a parody rhyme from the Palatinate region, which was recorded around 1920, but must go back to the time of Napoleon:

{{poemquote|

Mein Hut, der hat drei Ecke,

Drei Ecke hat mein Hut,

Napoleon soll verrecke,

Mit seiner blech'ne Schnut.Walther Klein: Der Napoleonkult in der Pfalz (= Münchener Historische Abhandlungen. Number 5). C. H. Beck, München 1934, also Diss. University Munich 1932, p. 89 ({{Google books|q88AAAAAMAAJ||page=89}}). The text comes from a questionnaire on the theme "How does the memory of Napoleon Bonaparte survive in your municipality?", which the Pfälzer Wörterbuchkanzlei of Kaiserslautern had produced. The questionnaire was issued around 1920, cf. Roger Dufraisse: Die Deutschen und Napoleon im 20. Jahrhundert (= Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Vorträge 21). Stiftung Historisches Kolleg, Munich, 1991, p. 8 ([http://www.historischeskolleg.de/fileadmin/pdf/vortraege_pdf/Vortraege21_dufraisse.pdf#page=7 digitalised]; pdf; 1.5 MB).}}

In German, a language in which the text was popularised, the words are:

Mein Hut, der hat drei Ecken,

drei Ecken hat mein Hut.

Und hätt er nicht drei Ecken,

so wär’s auch nicht mein Hut.

A Bavarian drinking song parodies the theme:

Mein Hut, der hält drei Liter,

Und drei Liter hält mein Hut,

Un hält er nicht drei Liter,

so wär's auch nicht mein Hut.

The English version is as follows:

My hat, it has three corners,

Three corners has my hat.

And had it not three corners,

It would not be my hat.

The Swedish version is as follows:

Min hatt, den har tre kanter,

tre kanter har min hatt.

och har den ej tre kanter,

så är det ej min hatt!

The Brazilian version is as follows:

O meu chapéu tem três pontas,

Três pontas tem o meu chapéu.

Se não tivesse três pontas,

Não seria o meu chapéu.

The Portuguese version is as follows:

O meu chapéu tem três bicos,

Tem três bicos o meu chapéu.

Se não tivesse três bicos,

O chapéu não era meu.

The Hebrew version is as follows:

לַכּוֹבַע שֶׁלִּי שָׁלוֹשׁ פִּנּוֹת

שָׁלוֹשׁ פִּנּוֹת לַכּוֹבַע שֶׁלִּי

לוּלֵא הָיוּ לוֹ שָׁלוֹשׁ פִּנּוֹת

לֹא הָיָה זֶה הַכּוֹבַע שֶׁלִּי.

The song can be performed as an action song, in which, as in a missing word song, another word is not sung with each stanza and only mimed using actions. If someone accidentally sings the missing word, they usually have to drop out or pay a penalty or a forfeit.

In this version, the words of the song may accompanied by the following gestures:

• my – point at yourself with your index finger
• hat – touch your head or the imaginary brim of your hat
• three – stretch out three fingers
• corners – touch your elbow with your hand
• not – shake your head

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.liederprojekt.org/lied30124-Mein-Hut-der-hat-drei-Ecken.html Mein Hut, der hat drei Ecken] in the song project by SWR2 and Carus.
• [http://www.volksliederarchiv.de/mein-hut-der-hat-drei-ecken/ Mein Hut der hat drei Ecken], volksliederarchiv.de
• [http://www.labbe.de/liederbaum/index.asp?themaid=19&titelid=609 Noten und das Lied zum Anhören]
• Text of the song – [http://ingeb.org/Lieder/meinhuth.html in various languages]
• Xaver Frühbeis: [https://www.br-klassik.de/programm/sendungen-a-z/mittagsmusik/mittagsmusik-extra-volkslieder-164.html Von Möpsen, Müttern und Nebelspaltern: Mein Hut, der hat drei Ecken]. BR4-Klassik Mittagsmusik extra, 4 January 2011.

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Category:Folk songs

Category:Traditional children's songs

Category:Action songs