Tu scendi dalle stelle
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"Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle" (From Starry Skies Thou Comest, From Starry Skies Descending, You Came a Star from Heaven) is the best known Christmas hymn or carol originating in Italy. Though found in numerous arrangements and commonly sung, it is traditionally associated with the zampogna or large-format Italian bagpipes.
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[edit] History
The melody and original lyrics for the hymn were written by Saint Alfonso Maria De'Liguori (Alphonsus Liguori), a prominent Neapolitan priest (later canonized) who founded the small Redemptorist missionary order. In 1775, while staying at one of his order's houses in the small city of Deliceto in the province of Foggia in eastern Italy, he put together a long Christmas song in his native Neapolitan language. This song, Quanno Nascetti Ninno (When the Child was Born, sometimes referred to as the Carol of the Bagpipers), was later rewritten in Italian by Pope Pius IX. Pius's version of the song, Tu scendi dalle stelle (literally, "You came down from the stars") became a widely popular Christmas carol in Italy.
There are several translations of the lyrics into English styled after that of the King James Bible; one of these translations is given below. At least one translation into modern English also exists [1].
[edit] Lyrics
- Tu scendi dalle stelle,
- O Re del Cielo
- E vieni in una grotta
- Al freddo al gelo
- O Bambino mio Divino
- Io ti vedo qui a tremar,
- O Dio Beato
- Ah, quanti ti costo
- L'avermi amato
- A te che sei del mondo,
- Il creatore
- Mancano panni e fuoco,
- O mio Signore
- Caro eletto, Pargoletto,
- Quanto questa povertà ,
- Piu m'innamora
- Giacche ti fece
- Amor povero ancora
- (From starry skies descending,
- Thou comest, glorious King,
- A manger low Thy bed,
- In winter's icy sting;
- O my dearest Child most holy,
- Shudd'ring, trembling in the cold!
- Great God, Thou lovest me!
- What suff'ring Thou didst bear,
- That I near Thee might be!
- Thou art the world's Creator,
- God's own and true Word,
- Yet here no robe, no fire
- For Thee, Divine Lord.
- Dearest, fairest, sweetest Infant,
- Dire this state of poverty.
- The more I care for Thee,
- Since Thou, o Love Divine,
- Will'st now so poor to be.)
[edit] Variations
Contemporary Italian composer Piero Niro has produced a composition entitled Three Variations on "Tu scendi dalle stelle" for a large orchestra (2000) [2].
[edit] Further reading
- The International Book of Christmas Carols, ed. Walter Ehret and George K. Evans (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1963), p. 76
