DOWNLOAD: Tu Scendia Dalle Stelle (Recorded in Italy)
(Please see Roberto's comment, in which he provides much background on this record.)
Another repost of track that expired long ago at Zippyfile. "Homage of Antoniani Orphans of Desenzano del Garda To Their Benefactors" is the translation of the top line on the reverse, according to the sites I visited. "Antonian male orphanage of the Rogationist fathers" reads the second, and Desenzano del Garda is a resort town in northern Italy.
"A quattro voci dispari" would seem to mean four-part harmony for mixed voices, but I'm assuming this is an all-male choir. "Dispari" could refer to the age differences within the group.
Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle (You Come Down From the Stars) is a 1732 Christmas carol featuring words and music by Saint Alphonsus Liguori of (you'll never guess) Italy. I've heard a number of other renditions of this carol, but none match this one, which I find totally gorgeous and quite moving, even though the words are all, well, Italian to me. I have a treble-and-bass-clef version I played in church, but it just doesn't have the feel of this lovely setting.
Here's Pavarotti singing it in 1999: Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle. Terrific, of course, but I still prefer the version on this semi-flexi disc. I call it a semi-flexi disc because it's not floppy, like your typical flexi disc/soundsheet, but neither is it as solid as vinyl. It may, in fact, be atypically thin vinyl. I have no way to test its composition.
You'll hear about two minutes of a young boy speaking in Italian, followed by the indescribably lovely choral section. I found this gem in a box of 45s at the local St. Vincent de Paul thrift. I believe it was protected in a plastic sleeve--I hate to think of how it would have fared, condition-wise, minus the covering. The photo label sort of catches the eye, no?
More singles on the way.
Lee
14 comments:
There aren't many better looking picture discs. I am sure there must be other Christmas picture discs but none come to mind at the moment.
Yes, the cover is as gorgeous as the music! I wish I had any info on the choral arrangement--when it's from, who wrote it, etc. This version puts the melody (and changes) across like no other setting I've heard.
Thanks, Lee! Pretty one. I recall finding something similar once, in an envelope with what I assumed was Italian postage, but I've long since misplaced it. :(
Hi again, Lee. Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle is very pretty and very familiar, so I compared tune and lyrics with O Bambino (One Cold and Blessed Winter). If you investigate for yourself, you'll find a bit of history and see (and hear) the similarities. Perhaps your "other renditions of this carol" is referring to O Bambino. Thanks for the early Christmas gift! Doc
Hi, I have some other records from that series -not this one, so thank you very much-. You're right about the interpretation of "4 voci dispari": here it is second case, all-male adult/children. The plaque in the town of Nola (close to Naples, not LA) tells the song was written there in december 1754, yet those were the years indeed. For the Italian generations born no matter when from 19th to 20th century this one was the pretty first Xmas tune to be heard and learned by heart. The child introducing the song is a guest of the Orphanage -turned into a private high scool nowadays-: he calls himself "Ricciolino" [Curly] and he's 13. He's thanking all the benefactors, to whom this record is probably given as a freebie, wishing season greetings to all Italians in and outside the Country -emigrants were still many in 1959, that should be the year- asking everyone to remember and help the lonely like him and his companions. Then the song begins, just first verse and twice refrain. You won't escape the translation, just as horrible as only mine could be:
[O Blessed God!]
You come down from the stars
O King of Heaven
[O King of Heaven]
And come to a cave
In the cold, in the frost
And come to a cave
In the cold, in the frost
O my Divine Child
I see you trembling here
O Blessed God
Ah, how much it did cost you
For loving me!
Ah, how much it did cost you
For loving me! [2]
Even the manufacturer Cellograf-Simp survives today, with production and marketing strategies slightly different though... Always been into plastics, at those times it first finalized others' given masters, later starting an editorial branch of its own (Phonocolor/Style). From late 50s to early 60s it was the main flexis stamper in Italy and yes, a bit more thickness has always featured its production. They were mainly freebies: Italy was living an economic boom back then and
after purchasing the right amount of any stuff you always got your flexi thrown to.
Sorry the lengthy, that was to seize the opportunity to thank you for all the beautiful music I know by means of your blog and, if I'm allowed, Buster's and Ernie's too, that I often see around here as well. To you all, merry Christmas and a great 2021.
Roberto - Milan, Lombardy -not so far from Desenzano-
Roberto,
Thank you so much for your comment! It is great appreciated. It's wonderful to get so much background on this record, and your translation is lovely. You've given me a terrific Christmas gift. Thanks so much for sharing this priceless information! A Merry Christmas to you, too, and the best things to come in 2021.
Roberto,
Thanks so much from me too for the information about this lovely record.
Buster
Roberto, thanks for the info! Always great to see a comment that fills in the blanks that exist behind so many of these records. That's one of the great gifts of blogging!
I was in Italy last year, near Lake Como, and I hunted all around for some Christmas records to bring back. Wish I could have found a handful of these artifacts. :)
Doc,
Excuse my late reply--busy times, with my heating system being revamped. At least I won't have to worry about losing heat in the dead of winter! I'll check out "O Bambino"--very curious to see how that compares. Thanks. Actually, the other versions I mentioned were two solo renditions, including the Pavarotti and someone else, plus a piano score I'd found. The piano score features the same melody, but in a very mundane setting. I'll check out "O Bambino." It might be a false memory, but I seem to recall Perry Como recording that one (?).
Hi again, Doc. Just started listening to a Harry Simeone rendition, and you nailed it--same number! Well, mostly. The orphanage version seems to extend things. Maybe "O Bambino" is a partial borrowing?
Thanks again for alerting me to this...
I checked out Harry Simeone's nice version too: italian lines are the same as original, and english lyrics -which I admit not having caught here and there- diverge from faithful translation and are probably due to the fantasy of Remo Capra, as prompted after a pit-stop at Discogs, while Tony Velona arrangement wisely retraces the essence of the tune in the genre of central/southern Italy 'piva' [peeva], a sort of profane pastoral played by shepherds with their chanting bagpipes back then. So I personally look at this version as an 'authentic' cover, in the same path of the many I've heard over the years.
Roberto
Thanks again, Roberto! I had suspected this composition has seen many settings. Just to clarify--by "this version," do you mean the one I posted? Thanks!
Lee
Sorry, I was referring to Harry Simeone's recording. The one you posted IS the real thing by antonomasia!
Roberto
Roberto--
Thanks much! I appreciate your research.
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