Franz Gruber’s Christmas hymn has been translated into nearly every language imaginable.  I was surprised to see and hear it sung in Japanese in Akira Kurosawa’s “Scandal” which dates from 1950.  Considering most Japanese aren’t even Christian, I thought it was remarkable.  It goes to show us how important that “Tyrolean Folk Song,” as it was known in its early life, has become to the world.

Here is a favorite arrangement by Chip Davis of Mannheim Steamroller. You can easily imagine yourself at the crib on that night of all nights.

I’m posting this with my sincere best wishes for a happy and holy Christmas season to all my readers. I especially liked the video used here.

Carol at Simple Catholic Living posted Ten Great Christmas Music CDs.  In my comment I mentioned Mannheim Steamroller’s great Christmas music which prompted a visit by me to YouTube.  There I found this exquisite recording/video of Veni, Veni, Emmanuel. This is the English version of the original Latin hymn containing all the O Antiphons.

Mannheim Steamroller is an awesome group that has given me much listening pleasure over the years. If you go to YouTube you can hear a lot more of their music.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

Rentaro Taki, 1879-1903

As trees drop their leaves and the last flowers of summer fail in the autumn chill, Rentaro Taki’s beautiful composition, Kojo no Tsuki (Moon Over a Ruined Castle), seems a fitting accompaniment to nature’s preparation for sleep.  Taki (1879-1903) was one of Japan’s most famous and prolific composers at the turn of the twentieth century. The government awarded him a scholarship to study at the Leipzig Conservatory because of his talent.  His songs found their way into the music books of Japanese schools and his piano works are still performed by noted Japanese artists.

Taki’s life was cut short by tuberculosis.  Japan and the world were deprived of a great talent who had the ability to blend western music styles and harmonics with Japanese melodics. The minute you hear Kojo no Tsuki you know it is Japanese at the core yet blended eloquently with western European styles of the late 1800s.

Based on all the films and music of east Asian origin that I have seen and listened to, I think Asians express themselves in language more poetically and lyrically than we are used to speaking in the west. The title, Moon Over a Ruined Castle reflects this.

Fushimi, Imperial Palace, Tokyo, (c)Tomo.Yun (www.yunphoto.net/en/)

Japan has many ruined castles, the price paid for the consolidation of power under the Tokugawa Shogunate when daimyo after daimyo lost their lands and wealth, driving multitudes of samurai out of work and many to banditry and starvation.  Taki was born a mere eleven years into the Meiji (enlightened rule) era after the 268 year reign of the Tokugawa ended at Edo Castle in 1868. Kojo no Tsuki seems to lament not only the ruined castles of Japan but the loss of the samurai way of life – a mourning of the past and a laying to rest of both the good and the bad of the previous era.

The castle above is not ruined.  It is the residence of the Japanese emperor and a national treasure.  Imagine it burned, tree roots and other vegetation invading the stone foundation, and you will have the idea of the loss Taki depicted which commemorated the famous Oka castle (1185-1871) at Takeda City, Oishi, Japan on the island of Kyushu.

This recording features the Japanese koto, one of my favorite instruments.  It imparts a brightness and vitality to Taki’s composition, which has also been recorded for cello and piano.

HT to The Deacon’s Bench for this video.

From time to time I’ve mentioned my interest in Asian culture and history.  I have a respectable collection of Japanese art films and some of Zhang Yimou’s great Chinese works.  Recently Korean drama has come to my attention and I have watched a number of period and contemporary series at hulu.com.

This venture has allowed me to learn a lot about the differences in the Asian cultures.  At the rehab center where I work out I’ve become acquainted with a fine Korean lady who has graciously answered questions and given me insight in how to interpret what I’m seeing and hearing in the videos and when encountering Koreans.  One thing she says is that Koreans are the Italians of the Asians – the most emotionally expressive.  You will get a glimpse of that in this video of Korea’s Got Talent.

In every society we see both good and bad characteristics that work for or against human dignity.  Choi Sung Bong’s story is as sad, impressive, and inspiring as his voice is beautiful. His is a purely Korean story.  We Americans can’t even conceive of the life he led, it is so Dickensian and 18th-19th century.

The judges’ reactions to his ability and story is heartwarming and also expressive of the unique Korean culture.  I am deeply affected by his humility as much as I am by his talent.  It seems every year out of some nation on earth we are privileged to witness in a special way God’s blessing upon someone we could classify as “poor” or “disadvantaged” in some way.  In 2008 it was Susan Boyle.  This year it is Choi.

I am certain of one thing: this young man will never forget his past.  He is destined to do some very good things for the underprivileged of Korea.  I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did.

Since we celebrated the Presentation this week, I want to bring you a gorgeous rendition of  this ancient prayer to the Blessed Mother by Dimitri Bortniansky.  I love the Byzantine liturgical music – so solemn and holy.

Sub Tuum Praesidium dates from between 250 and 280, predating the Hail Mary.  It is found as an antiphon at the hour of Compline in the Divine Office.  You can read more about this at New Liturgical Movement. I have unashamedly stolen this video from the wonderful article by Henri de Villiers, Paris.  If you like Byzantine music, you may want to check out oiscandero’s submissions at YouTube.

The literal translation from the Latin:

Under your
patronage
we take refuge
Holy Mother of God;
our petitions,
do not despise
in necessities,
but of all dangers
deliver us always
glorious Virgin
& Blessed.

Choir directors: the article at New Liturgical Movement contains a downloadable page of Marc Antoine Charpentier’s (1643 † 1704) composition of this prayer.

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V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Since we are celebrating the Poor Souls in Purgatory throughout the month of November, I want to bring you a very beautiful prayer the Church offers on their behalf.

Many contemporary artists have recorded well-executed renditions of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s aria, Pie Jesu.  However, many people don’t realize that this Latin prayer is more than a pretty aria.  It is the final verse of the great Dies Irae, the sequence from the Requiem Mass. No prayer of the Catholic sacred liturgy has been set to music more often over the centuries than the Dies Irae.

I have a somewhat respectable collection of Requiem Masses that I like to listen to, composed by various greats from the 13th century on, but at the top of my favorites is Gabriel Fauré’s.

Fauré in his later years was widely acknowledged as the leading French composer of his day. He was deeply gifted with an ability to compose art songs, sacred choral music, piano, orchestral and organ works.  For many years he was the organist for the famous Church of the Madeleine and head of the Paris Conservatory.  So for those who have heard only Webber’s composition, I offer you the pure voice of a boy soprano from Kings College Chapel Choir, Cambridge, singing this masterpiece of an exceptional 19-20th century composer.

Many great composers have set to music the beautiful Stabat Mater hymn Catholics are so familiar with because of the Stations of the Cross.  Probably none had a greater appreciation of the grief of Our Lady than Antonin Dvorák.  On September 19th, 1875 his infant daughter Josefa died. On August 13, 1877 his eleven-month-old daughter died in a household accident.  Within a month his son Otakar contracted small pox and died on September 8, the composer’s 36th birthday.

By November 13, 1877 the composer had completed the work, but its first performance was not done until December 23, 1880. The piece brought Dvorák such popularity he was besieged for autographs wherever he went, a sign that he wrote in a universal language everyone can understand.  I highly recommend this very moving work for Lenten listening if you are into classical music.

Dvorak: Stabat Mater is available in my Amazon store or you can click on the link here to order. You can hear excerpts from it at the Amazon page.

About the Stabat Mater: this well known 13th century text was most likely composed by the great Franciscan, Jacapone da Todi  or otherwise known, Jacapone Benedetti (1228-1306).