Respighi: Lauda per la Natività del Signore

On its new album, the Bavarian Radio Choir, conducted by Howard Arman, presents Christmas music from Italy. With his "Lauda per la natività del Signore," Ottorino Respighi modernized the medieval nativity play of the same name by the religious poet Jacopone da Todi. Even before this, he had engaged with art forms of the past through adaptations of early music, new compositions, and original works based on Gregorian chants. In this piece, he assigned the medieval verses to a chamber choir and three soloists: the Angel (soprano), the Virgin Mary (alto), and the Shepherd (tenor). Accompanied by select woodwind instruments, which are reminiscent of the music of Italian shepherds, as well as a piano four-hands and triangle, the Christmas miracle is brought to life in a simple yet impressive way. Francesco Paolo Frontini is less known for his own compositions than for his numerous collections of Sicilian folk songs. From his work "Canti religiosi del popolo siciliano" (Religious Songs of the Sicilian People, published in 1938), a collection of 22 songs for voice and piano with verses in Sicilian and Italian translation, Howard Arman selected eight songs and arranged them for choir and instruments. Like Frontini, who had already included regional variants from Catania, Palermo, and other parts of the Mediterranean island, Arman also arranged two songs in different regional versions. The melody of the Italian Marian hymn "O sanctissima," which as "O du fröhliche" is one of the most popular Christmas carols in the German-speaking world, could possibly also originate from Sicily. The arrangement is once again by Howard Arman.