Christmas Wishes from Mask of the Flower Prince

Hodie Christus natus est:
Hodie Salvator apparuit:
Hodie in terra canunt Angeli,
laetantur Archangeli
Hodie exsultant justi, dicentes:
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Alleluia!

 

To all my readers celebrating the holiday, I’d like to wish you a very merry Christmas! I hope the day is filled with joy, memories, and wonder.

December is always a treacherous month for musicians with all the myriad performances going on—this year the Minnesota Chorale, for example, put together Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols, and more. Plus, groups of Chorale singers canvas the Twin Cities performing Christmas carols (for stories of my Christmas Caroling Disasters from over the year, click here). As a result of all these activities, plus the usual rounds of socializing, I’ve sadly neglected my blog. Fear not—a New Year’s Resolution is to get back at it. Look for more soon!

As a parting thought, let me present a song that does a marvelous job of tying the themes of my blog together. It is Xicochi conetzintle, a Christmas carol written by Gaspar Fernnades in Mexico in the early 1600s. The text is in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs (which is still spoken by nearly 2 million people in Mexico today).

Xicochi, xicochi conetzintlé
ca ōmitzhuihuixocoh in angelosmeh.
Alleluia.

                    –

Go to sleep, go to sleep revered baby;
the angels are already rocking you.
Alleluia.

 

Ancient Mexico and music? A perfect fit for Mask of the Flower Prince. Enjoy the holiday!

–Scott

 

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