Pfun With Pfeffernusse

Pfeffernusse (the "p" is silent) is a) a German spice cookie; b) fun to say; and c) a treat with an entire day dedicated to it. (December 23rd is National Pfeffernusse Day.) There are different recipes for pfeffernusse, but the most well-known is probably the ones covered in white powdered sugar or a white glaze. The name translates to "pepper nut," and as you may have guessed it contains pepper and nuts. Unlike Grape-Nuts®, which contain neither grapes nor nuts. But we digress. (Please note: We're using the Americanized spelling and pronunciation of pfeffernusse here. So there is no umlaut over the "u," and we don't pronounce the "e" at the end of the word as they would in Germany.)

This song is a polka, and it's a bit on the silly side as you can tell by the way we spell "pfun" in the title. It is replete with accordion, a bass trombone pretending to be a tuba, and various percussion instruments used for comedic effect, like an Acme siren whistle, a sports whistle (Acme Thunderer), temple blocks, a bulb horn, a train whistle, a whip (or slapstick), a slide whistle and jingle bells! Yes, jingle bells, because pfeffernusse is often thought of as a Christmas cookie. (Bonus lesson: See if your students can identify these various instruments on the recording.)

At measure 41 we take an abrupt departure from our polka and the song becomes a straight-up march. We have spoken lines in this section, which will require one special actor to play the Sergeant. For this role make sure you have an actor who can project, and possibly sound a bit gruff. The march section has a call and response between our Sergeant and all the other performers, so have fun with that! If you need inspiration, listen to the full version on the recording for this issue. At the D.S., the song goes back to our polka style until the end of the tune.