Tu scendi dalle stelle (You Come Down from the Stars) – An Italian Christmas Carol with 2 Videos & a Score
Many people grew up hearing this lovely song at Christmastime. I posted it 2 years ago and and was amazed by the amount of people who wrote in saying how much this song touched them. That inspired me to repost it today with two YouTube videos. I thought you might enjoy hearing two very different renditions of this song.
The first version is a lively rendition at a party with about 8 people playing various string instruments and a piano. Below that video you can find the song lyrics to Tu scendi dalle stelle in Italian with an English translation. Below that I put a 2nd video – a choral rendition of the same song. Enjoy!
Tu scendi dalle stelle
(Italian)Tu scendi dalle stelle
O Re del Cielo
E vieni in una grotta
Al freddo al gelo
E vieni in una grotta
Al freddo al gelo.O Bambino mio Divino
Io ti vedo qui a tremar,
O Dio Beato!
Ah, quanto ti costò
L’avermi amato.
Ah, quanto ti costò
L’avermi amato.A te che sei del mondo,
Il creatore,
Mancano panni e fuoco,
O mio Signore.
Mancano panni e fuoco,
O mio Signore.Caro eletto pargoletto,
Quanto questa povertà
Più mi innamora,
Giacchè ti fece amor
Povero ancora.
Giacchè ti fece amor
Povero ancora.You Come Down from the Stars
(English Translation)You come down from the stars
Oh King of Heavens,
And you come in a cave
In the cold, in the frost.
And you come in a cave
In the cold, in the frost.Oh my Divine Baby
I see you trembling here,
Oh Blessed God
Ah, how much it cost you,
Your loving me.
Ah, how much it cost you,
Your loving me.For you, who are of all the world
The creator,
No robes and fire,
Oh my Lord,
No robes and fire,
Oh my Lord.Dear chosen one, little infant,
This dire poverty,
Makes me love you more.
Since Love made you
Poor now.
Since Love made you
Poor now.
Click the following link for The Sheet Music for Tu scendi dalle stelle – it’s free!
Many thanks to Monique Palomares at Mama Lisa’s World en français for the English translation of Tu scendi dalle stelle!
-Mama Lisa
December 29th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
I have been looking for this song for years you’ve made my day
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I absolutely love this song. I hear St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote this hymn.
January 3rd, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Indeed! It was composed in 1754 in Nola by Alfonso Maria de’ Liguori, a Neapolitan bishop, but it was published only the next year. The lyrics were first written in Neapolitan dialect “Quanno nascette Ninno” = “When Baby (Jesus) was born”. The song was later re-written in standard Italian by pope Pius IX.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Thank you for the wonderful song. Several months before Christmas a
Sister Maria from the local Catholic church brought a cresch to my studio
It was made to look like a lean to or Swiss mountain barn. She asked if I
could make a sort of cave like structure or grotto she had seen when
she had served in the holy land. This little song sort of confirms that it
was a grotto not a Swiss chalet. Grazia mille, Robert Giannetti
February 27th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
My father grew up in the tiny village of Torrecuso Italy. He tells me that when he was a child the bagpipers would walk through the town playing this song at Christmas. I think he called them the Zampugnara (not sure of the spelling)….
Great to hear the song again. Pavorotti has a beautiful version on one of his Christmas CDs.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
About forty years ago, I bought an Italian Christmas album. Different artists are featured on the record. The above song is included. I never had heard the song before then. After all these years, it touches my heart and soul!
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:07 pm
I am a parishioner of St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori Parish. And this song is one of our favorites. Enthusiastic with the song, I searched repeatedly, until I found the complete lyrics. And I am sharing it with you.
Lyrics (complete)
Tu scendi dalle stelle, o Re del cielo,
e vieni in una grotta al freddo e al gelo. (2 v.)
O Bambino mio divino,
io ti vedo qui a tremar;
o Dio beato !
Ah, quanto ti costò l’avermi amato ! (2 v.)
2. A te, che sei del mondo il Creatore,
mancano panni e fuoco, o mio Signore. (2 v.)
Caro eletto pargoletto,
quanto questa povertà
più m’innamora,
giacché ti fece amor povero ancora. (2 v.)
3. Tu lasci il bel gioir del divin seno,
per giunger a penar su questo fieno. (2 v.)
Dolce amore del mio core,
dove amore ti trasportò ?
O Gesù mio,
per ché tanto patir ? per amor mio ! (2 v.)
4. Ma se fu tuo voler il tuo patire,
perché vuoi pianger poi, perché vagire ? (2 v.)
mio Gesù, t’intendo sì !
Ah, mio Signore !
Tu piangi non per duol, ma per amore. (2 v.)
5. Tu piangi per vederti da me ingrato
dopo sì grande amor, sì poco amato!
O diletto – del mio petto,
Se già un tempo fu così, or te sol bramo
Caro non pianger più, ch’io t’amo e t’amo (2 v.)
6. Tu dormi, Ninno mio, ma intanto il core
non dorme, no ma veglia a tutte l’ore
Deh, mio bello e puro Agnello
a che pensi? dimmi tu. O amore immenso,
un dì morir per te, rispondi, io penso. (2 v.)
Dunque a morire per me, tu pensi, o Dio
ed altro, fuor di te, amar poss’io?
O Maria. speranza mia,
se poc’amo il tuo Gesù, non ti sdegnare
amalo tu per me, s’io non so amare! (2 v)
Enjoy!
Ut It Omnibus Glorificeteur Dei
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:10 pm
I cannot seem to view the video. Could you please email both videos to me?
Thanks. God bless.
December 4th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Thank you for posting the complete lyrics!
I fixed the second video online – it should be working now. If not, sometimes reloading the page helps. Please let me know if you still have problems.
Best wishes,
Mama Lisa
December 10th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Every year, when I was a girl, we would play this song at midnight and pass around a 200 year old Gesu bambino for everyone to kiss. It is something we still try to do, minus my lovely grandparents who are now gone. I hope my children will continue to do this!
Laura Phyllis
March 9th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
This song brings such great memories of my Grandmother. She sang this song to us every year at Christmas time. The record we listened to had two sides. One was just the instrumental the other had vocals on it. The instruments were a Zampogna and a Ciaramella. Just so beautiful that I can’t describe how touching it is.