Pablo Casals is remembered primarily as one of the great cellists. But did you know he was also a composer? Casals’ most ambitious piece must be his Christmas oratorio “El Pesebre,” or “The Crib” (once commonly translated as “The Manger”).
The text, by Catalan poet Joan Alavedra, was conceived in response to questions posed by his five year-old daughter. She asked him, as he was setting up his crèche, what each of the figures at the Nativity – including the animals – said.
The project provided something of an escape for both artists. The work was begun while they were under house arrest in 1943. The folk-like simplicity of the oratorio is disturbed only occasionally by intimations of a troubled world. Casals added a prayer for peace to the concluding “Gloria” and refused to allow the work to be performed in Franco’s Spain. Instead, it was given its premiere in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1960.
As long as you don’t go into it expecting Christmas music of the caliber of that written by Casals’ idol, Johann Sebastian Bach, the oratorio makes for a charming and disarming musical experience. Said Casals, “The figures in a crèche are folk figures; why, they can’t sing twelve-tone music!” You can hear “El Pesebre” this afternoon around 2:00, following today’s noontime concert.
At 12:00, we offer a rebroadcast of an event which took place at Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton on December 5. The American Boychoir and its music director, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, join host Rob Kapilow for a special “What Makes It Great?” Performers and presenter parse out Benjamin Britten’s beloved “A Ceremony of Carols,” followed by a complete performance of the piece. The absorbing analysis-with-concert is emceed by WWFM’s David Osenberg.
Christmas is for the young this afternoon, from noon to 4 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.