“Tu scendi dalle stelle” (“You come down from the stars”), written in 1754 by Sant’Alfonso Maria de Liguori (b. in Napoli, 1696 – d. 1787), is our most famous and most loved Italian Christmas carol. Its music is based on a folk theme traditionally played on zampogne (bagpipes).
Several years later, de Liguori wrote another Christmas song based on the same tune, but with Neapolitan lyrics, in order to make its message more clear to people who only spoke dialect. Its title is: “Quanno nascette Ninno” (“When the Baby was born”).
“Tu scendi dalle stelle” is so much a symbol of Christmas here in Italy that the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, who often incorporated traditional tunes into his imaginative music, included de Liguori’s theme into “L’Adorazione dei Magi” (“The Adoration of the Three Kings”), which is the second movement of his “Trittico Botticelliano”. This suite of music describes three famous paintings by Botticelli which are on display in the Uffizzi Museum in Florence: “La Primavera” (“Spring”), “L’Adorazione dei Magi” (“The Adoration of the Three Kings”), and “La Nascita di Venere” (“The Birth of Venus”).
Above: “L’Adorazione dei Magi” by Sandro Botticelli
Here are the lyrics from “Tu scendi dalle stelle” with my translation into English:
| Tu scendi dalle stelle, o Re del Cielo, e vieni in una grotta al freddo e al gelo, e vieni in una grotta al freddo e al gelo. O Bambino mio divino, io ti vedo qui a tremar, o Dio beato! Ah, quanto ti costò l’avermi amato! Ah, quanto ti costò l’avermi amato! A te che sei del mondo il Creatore, mancano panni e fuoco, o mio Signore, mancano panni e fuoco, o mio Signore. Caro eletto pargoletto, quanto questa povertà più m’innamora, giacché ti fece amor povero ancora! Giacché ti fece amor povero ancora! | You come down from the stars, oh King of the Heavens, and enter into a grotto in the cold and the ice, and enter into a grotto, in the cold and the ice. Oh my divine Baby, I see you here, shivering, oh blessed God! Ah, how much it cost you to have loved me! Ah, how much it cost you to have loved me! You who are of the world the Creator, without clothes and heat, oh my Lord, without clothes and heat, oh my Lord. Dear little chosen child, how much this poverty increases my love, since love made you poor again! Since love made you poor again! |
Here are a couple of videos of “Tu scendi dalle stelle”, the first performed in an operatic style by Andrea Bocelli: http://youtu.be/kAufwdN7m2k and the second performed in the way by zampognari (bagpipers): http://youtu.be/t2rg5Rytbww
Buon Natale!
Tags: Italian Christmas carol, Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, L'Adorazione dei Magi by Botticelli, Trittico Botticellieano, Tu scendi dalle stelle English translation, You come down from the stars
