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Cover of the program of the premiere of Three Christmas Carols
(Madrid, December 12, 2006)



Tres Villancicos / Three Christmas Carols

For Choir and Orchestra


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Commentary


For its traditional Christmas concert, at the beginning of 2006 the Community of Madrid Orchestra (ORCAM) asked me, through its musical artistic director, José Ramón Encinar, to compose a triptych of Christmas carols for choir and orchestra, leaving me full freedom. about their origin, leaving in any case discarded those that were going to be used by the other two composers whose works were to be performed in the same concert, José García Román and Alejandro Yagüe.

ORCAM and José Ramón Encinar at the Orchestra's headquarters in Madrid

From among the most popular I chose Pastores, venid (Shepherds, come), thinking that his cheerful character could serve very well for the end of the triptych. As the central number and as a slow tempo, it seemed appropriate to resort to El cant dels ocells (The song of the birds), which not really being a Christmas carol, but a popular song, both its theme (the joy of the birds at the birth of Jesus) and the enormous diffusion that it enjoys as a result of the adaptation for cello solo by Pau Casals and its inclusion in most of his concerts, have given it a very appropriate character for its use in Christmas festivities. And as a contrast, I searched for a cultured (that is, author's) origin for the first number, resorting to one of the most beautiful pieces by one of our greatest polyphonists of the 16th century: the villancico (or “villanesque”, to be more precise, because in any case it is from the word "villain" -rustic man, as opposed to noble or "nobleman"- from which both terms derive) for four voices Niño Dios de amor herido (Child God wounded with love), composed by Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599) within the Canciones y Villanescas Espirituales collection, published in Venice in 1589. In this way, the conceptual structure of the triptych shifts from the cultured composition of Guerrero to the eminently popular Shepherds, come, going through an intermediate state in the that the popular origin of the Catalan song goes hand in hand with the cult treatment that Casals gave to it.
Child God wounded with love, the first movement of the Three Christmas Carols, scrupulously respects the polyphonic work of Guerrero, which is inserted into a form of "varied choral" in which the melodic element of each of the verses is glossed by the orchestra, separating the interventions of the choir, in an eminently modal harmonic treatment.

Beginning of Niño Dios d'amor herido by Francisco Guerrero (1589)

In The song of the birds, and recalling the figure of Pau Casals, inseparable from this melody, it is a solo cello that leads the composition from the beginning to the end, following during his speech the different interventions of my harmonization for the choir of the Catalan popular song, placing in the central part a brief descriptive fragment in which first and second violins evoke "the song of the birds".
Lastly, Shepherds, come endorses the joyful and jubilant character of the popular Christmas carol, which after an introduction by the orchestra is exposed in the first and last sections of a ternary piece to which a slow and contemplative central part serves as a contrast.


Program of the premiere of Three Christmas Carols

The Three Christmas Carols are dedicated to Alicia Núñez, and were premiered at the Hispano-American Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy in Madrid on December 12, 2006, performed by the Symphony Orchestra and Choir of the Community of Madrid under the direction of José Ramon Encinar.

First page of the first movement of Three Christmas Carols

First page of the second movement of Three Christmas Carols

First page of the third movement of Three Christmas Carols



Texts

I

Niño Dios de amor herido

I

Child God wounded with love

Niño Dios de amor herido,
¿tan presto os enamoráis
que, apenas habéis nacido,
cuando de amores lloráis?

En esa mortal divisa,
nos mostráis bien el amar,
pues siendo hijo de risa,
lo trocáis por el llorar.

La risa nos ha cabido,
el llorar vos lo aceptáis,
y apenas habéis nacido,
cuando de amores lloráis.

Child God wounded with love
do you fall in love so soon
that, as soon as you were born,
when of love do you cry?

In that deadly badge,
you show us love well,
Since, being the son of laughter,
you trade it for crying.

The laughter has fit us,
crying you accept it,
and you were just born
when you cry with love.

II

El cant dels ocells

II

The song of the birds

En veure despuntar
el major lluminar
en la nit més ditxosa,
els ocellets cantant
a festejar-lo van
amb sa veu melindrosa.

L'ocell, rei de l'espai,
va pels aires volant
cantant amb melodía,
dient: Jesús es nat
per treure'ns del pecat
i dar-nos alegria.

Seeing the dawn
the greatest glow
in the happiest night,
the little birds
are going to sing to him
with their melodious voice.

The bird, king of space,
flies through the air
singing with melody,
saying: Jesus is born
to free us from sin
and give us joy.

III

Pastores, venid

III

Shepherds, come

San José al Niño Jesús
un beso le dio en la cara,
y el Niño Jesús le dijo:
que me pinchas con las barbas.

Oiga usted, Señor José,
no le arrime usted la cara,
que se va a asustar el Niño
con esas barbas tan largas.

Pastores, venid,
pastores, llegad,
adorad al Niño,
que ha nacido ya.

Están la mula y el buey
felices entre las pajas,
porque dan calor al Niño
en la fría madrugada.

Pastores, venid,
pastores, llegad,
adorad al Niño,
que ha nacido ya.

La Virgen María ríe,
la Virgen María canta,
cuida con amor al Niño,
el Sol y la Luz del alma.

Óiganos, Virgen María,
no le dé al Niño manzanas,
por una de ellas morimos,
porque estaba envenenada.

Pastores, venid,
pastores, llegad,
adorad al Niño,
que ha nacido ya.
Saint Joseph to the Child Jesus
a kiss gave him on the face,
and the Child Jesus said to him:
you are pricking me with your beards.

Hey, Mr. Joseph,
don't put your face in it
that the child is going to be scared
with those long beards.

Shepherds, come
shepherds, arrive,
adore the Child,
that is was already born.

There are the mule and the ox
happy among the straws,
because they heat the child
in the cold morning.

Shepherds, come
shepherds, arrive,
adore the Child,
that is was already born.

The Virgin Mary laughs,
the Virgin Mary sings,
she lovingly cares for the Child,
the Sun and the Light of the soul.

Hear us, Virgin Mary,
do not give the Child apples,
for one of them we die,
because she was poisoned.

Shepherds, come
shepherds, arrive,
adore the Child,
that is was already born.



Vídeos


Video 1 (Telemadrid): Symphony Orchestra and Choir of Madrid Community. Cond.: José Ramón Encinar

Madrid, Hispano-American Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy, December 12, 2006. Christmas concert of the ORCAM


I. Child God wounded with love


Video 2 (TVE): RTVE Choir and Symphony Orchestra. Cond.: Carlos Kalmar (Cello: Javier Albarés)

Madrid, Monumental Theater, December 20, 2002. Christmas concert of the ORTVE


II. The song of the birds

III. Shepherds, come



Crítica


Liebre por gato
Por Andrés Ibáñez
(Crítica publicada en el diario ABC. Madrid, 16 de diciembre de 2006)

What a great programming success! A Christmas carol concert for all audiences or a contemporary music concert for all audiences? The two things at the same time. The Hispano-American Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy is immense: architectural brutalism, concrete everywhere and an altarpiece made up of large rusty metal pieces and hanging chains under which the music sounds intimidating, little helped by acoustics that tend to highlight individual details and to blur ensembles, and in which the chorus sounds strangely remote. A Telemadrid crane the size of a young diplodocus, sporadic light effects, multicolored pop glomeruli and a sudden blackout that forces José Ramón Encinar to stop one of the pieces and start over.
The music, excellent. Sumptuous versions for choir and large orchestra of popular Christmas carols (by Carmelo Bernaola, Turina and Yagüe) and an original Christmas carol by José García Román, who also contributes a version for choir and orchestra of two salads by Mateo Flecha. Thought: that perhaps the two most defining and influential musical works of the 20th century have been Pulcinella and Webern's orchestration of the musical Offering fugue. Because where does the "tradition" begin and the "avant-garde" end? The "Three Christmas Carols" by José Luis Turina are the intellectual peak of the night, fascinating deconstructions of popular songs and polyphony by Francisco Guerrero, rhythmic and harmonic decompositions and recompositions of pre-existing music. [...]
Brilliance, brilliance, beautiful contributions of individual voices from the choir, gongs, marimbas and rain cane, passion and exactness in the direction of José Ramón Encinar. What more could you ask for?



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(Complete scores and parts without watermarks available at www.asesores-musicales.com )

General score of Three Christmas Carols

Choir and piano reduction of Three Christmas Carols