[Publius]

MERRY CHRISTMAS

BRAHMS: “SPIRITUAL LULLABY”, OP. 91/2

Although this has a high opus number, it dates from Jo’s younger years before he grew the full-face beard and exchanged his four-pack-a-day habit for top-shelf Cuban stogies. In a way, it’s his attempt at a Christmas carol. The poem is Spanish, from Lope de Vega, translated into German by Emmanuel von Geibel. It’s Mary asking the treetops to quiet down lest it wake her infant.

From the beginning you can hear that no amateur singer could possibly handle this; it requires an operatic contralto. There is an obbligato role for viola, which plays an actual German Christmas carol over the vocal and piano lines. This is Andre Previn on piano, Cecil Aronowitz on viola, and Janet Baker handling vocal duties. In German with English subtitles.

Brahms: “Spiritual Lullaby,” Op. 91/2

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thank you for Brahms: “Spiritual Lullaby,” Op. 91/2.

[luvie]

I look forward to playing your lovely Christmas choices.