"Tu scendi dalle stelle" ("From Starry Skies Thou Comest", "From Starry Skies Descending", "You Came a Star from Heaven", "You come down from the stars") is the best known Christmas carol

Christmas carol

A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...

 originating in Italy. Though found in numerous arrangements and commonly sung, it is traditionally associated with the zampogna

Zampogna

Zampogna is a generic term for a number of Italian double chantered pipes that can be found as far north as the southern part of the Marche, throughout areas in Abruzzo, Latium, Molise, Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, and Sicily...

 or large-format Italian bagpipe

Bagpipes

Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...

.

History

The melody and original lyrics for the hymn were written by Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, a prominent Neapolitan priest (later canonized) who founded the Redemptorist missionary order. In 1744, while staying at Convent of the Consolation, one of his order's houses in the small city of Deliceto

Deliceto

Deliceto is a small town and comune in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy...

 in the province of Foggia

Province of Foggia

The Province of Foggia is a province in the Apulia region of Italy.This province is also known as Capitanata, originally Catapanata, because during the Middle Ages it was governed by a catapan, as part of the Catapanate of Italy...

 in southeastern Italy, he put together the Christmas song that begins "You come down from the stars" entitled "Little song to Child Jesus". Another song exists with lyrics in Neapolitan language entitled "For Jesus's birth" and that begins Quanno nascette Ninno (When the child was born) and sometimes referred to as the "Carol of the Bagpipers". Since that time the "Little song to Child Jesus" 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 existshttp://www.cdbaby.com/cd/summerbell2 as well as a literal translation into English of "For Jesus's birth", better known as "Quanno nascette Ninno" (Neapolitan/English)http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/228105/

Recordings of the piece include that of the soprano Renata Scotto

Renata Scotto

Renata Scotto is an Italian soprano and opera director.Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi...

 (1981). Italio-American tenor, Sergio Franchi

Sergio Franchi

Sergio Franchi was an Italian tenor.Franchi was born in Cremona, Italy. His father wanted him to become an electrical engineer, so he studied both music and engineering simultaneously. The family moved to South Africa in 1952, where Sergio worked part-time as a draftsman, while continuing to study...

, recorded the song on his 1965 RVA Victor Billboard Top 40 album The Heart of Christmas (Cuor' Di Natale).

Lyrics (4 of 7 strophes)

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 Ahi, quanto ti costò l'avermi amato! A te, che sei del mondo il Creatore, mancano panni e fuoco; O mio Signore! Caro eletto Pargoletto, Quanto questa povertà più mi innamora! Giacché 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.

Variations and arrangements

Contemporary Italian composer Piero Niro has produced a composition entitled Three Variations on "Tu scendi dalle stelle" for a large orchestra (2000).

Ralph Woodward

Ralph Woodward

Ralph Woodward is an English classical conductor, arranger andorganist. His main focus is on conducting choirs.-Education:...

has arranged the carol for unaccompanied choir.

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
• "Tu scendi dalle stelle – You come down from the stars", ed. Antonio Zingale (S.Francisco, CA, USA : Blurb Inc., 2008), pp. 17–44 ISBN 978-88-903484-0-2

External links

• "Italy's most popular Christmas Carol, with words and music"