ITALIANO
Cari amici, avrei voluto riuscire a suonare Silent Night per questo Natale meglio di quanto non mi fosse risultato (al di là dei crini difettosi dell'archetto), ma purtroppo ho ancora tanta strada davanti. L'ideale sarebbe suonare almeno un'ora al giorno, per arrivare all'obiettivo in tempi ragionevoli, ma purtroppo di un'ora al giorno per suonare non dispongo. Al massimo di un'ora a settimana, suddivisa in un paio di giorni (solitamente il sabato e la domenica, in quanto altre volte uno dei giorni del fine settimana lo sostituisco con il lunedì o il venerdì). Impegni offline, lavorativi, di studio e pure la salute che zoppica la fanno spesso da padroni. Comunque, bando alle ciance e passiamo alla musica.
Un po' di storia
Stavolta ho scelto Silent Night, tra le mie preferite natalizie. Il suo titolo originale è Stille Nacht, in tedesco, perchè l'autore fu austriaco. Si chiamava Joseph Mohr e proveniva da una famiglia disagiata. Potè studiare grazie alla carità di un parroco e divenne a sua volta parroco. Silent Night fu composto nel 1816. Anche se nacque in ambito cattolico, è molto amato anche in ambito protestante (vi sono canti in comune e tra questi spiccano proprio quelli natalizi), tanto che è presente nel mio innario metodista.
Versione in inglese del canto
Silent night! Holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child!
Holy infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace!
Sleep in heavenly peace!
Silent night! Holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight!
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Saviour is born!
Christ the Saviour is born!
Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!
Come al solito, ho registrato una sola strofa con il violino.
Link storici
Sull'autore e il canto natalizio da vedere su wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Night (qui trovate sia la versione in tedesco che in inglese sotto Lyrics)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mohr (qui trovate la biografia dell'autore in inglese)
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mohr (qui trovate cenni sulla biografia dell'autore in italiano: la più completa è quella in inglese)
Ps.: esiste una versione italiana di questo canto, Astro del Ciel, che trovate qui:
https://www.stillenacht.info/it/astro-del-ciel/testo.asp
Natale
Vi lascio con un brano della mia The Pocket Bible In One Year, una bibbia tascabile edizione New International Version del 1989, comprata una trentina di anni fa in una nave missionaria (Doulos, oggi sostituita dalla Logos) e che conservo a tutt'oggi:
"While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” "(Luke 2: 6-14)
Versione in italiano (bibbia CEI 2008):
"Mentre si trovavano in quel luogo, si compirono per lei i giorni del parto. Diede alla luce il suo figlio primogenito, lo avvolse in fasce e lo pose in una mangiatoia, perché per loro non c’era posto nell’alloggio.
C’erano in quella regione alcuni pastori che, pernottando all’aperto, vegliavano tutta la notte facendo la guardia al loro gregge. Un angelo del Signore si presentò a loro e la gloria del Signore li avvolse di luce. Essi furono presi da grande timore, ma l’angelo disse loro: «Non temete: ecco, vi annuncio una grande gioia, che sarà di tutto il popolo: oggi, nella città di Davide, è nato per voi un Salvatore, che è Cristo Signore. Questo per voi il segno: troverete un bambino avvolto in fasce, adagiato in una mangiatoia». E subito apparve con l’angelo una moltitudine dell’esercito celeste, che lodava Dio e diceva:
"Gloria a Dio nel più alto dei cieli
e sulla terra pace agli uomini, che egli ama"." (Luca 2: 6-14)
ENGLISH
Dear friends, I would have liked to be able to play Silent Night for this Christmas better than I turned out to (apart from the faulty hairs of the bow), but unfortunately I still have a long way to go. Ideally, I would need to play at least an hour per day, in order to reach my goal in a reasonable time, but unfortunately I don't have such a free time to play. At most one hour per week, spread over a couple of days (usually Saturdays and Sundays, as other times I replace one of the weekend days with Monday or Friday). Offline commitments, job, studies and even limping health often take over. Anyway, no further chatting and move on to the music.
A bit of history
This time I chose Silent Night, one of my Christmas favourites. Its original title is Stille Nacht, in German, because the author was Austrian. His name was Joseph Mohr and he came from a poor family. He was able to study thanks to the charity of a parish priest and became a parish priest himself. Silent Night was composed in 1816. Although it originated in the Catholic sphere, it is also much loved in the Protestant sphere (there are hymns in common, and Christmas carols are among them), so much so that it appears in my Methodist hymnal.
English version of the carol
Silent night! Holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child!
Holy infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace!
Sleep in heavenly peace!
Silent night! Holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight!
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Saviour is born!
Christ the Saviour is born!
Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!
As usual, I only recorded one stanza with the violin.
Historical links
About the author and the Christmas carol, see Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Night (here you'll find both the German and English versions under Lyrics)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mohr (here you'll find the author's biography in English)
Christmas
I leave you with an passage from my The Pocket Bible In One Year, a pocket Bible New International Version edition of 1989, purchased more or less thirty years ago in a missionary ship (Doulos, now replaced by Logos) and which I keep to this day:
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” "(Luke 2: 6-14)