Puer Natus (Chiome d'oro)

Monteverdi's musical whirligig, with a Latin contrafactum by Lawrence Rosenwald. Live, HD video from the Venetian Christmas Vespers concert, December, 2013, performed on original instruments by the San Francisco based Early Music ensemble Voices of Music. NB: This video uses YouTube's Closed Caption system that has many benefits for people around the world to enjoy this music. You can turn the text (translation) on and off using the "CC" button, and you can also use YouTube's built in translation feature for other languages. In the renaissance and baroque, it was common practice to take a really great piece of music and give it new lyrics for a special occasion: the new text was called a "contrafactum." For this concert, we decided to take one of Monteverdi's best duets, Chiome d'oro--which had already been given a new text for Easter in the 17th century--and make a new Latin text for our Christmas Vespers. Puer natus, sum laetatus, in hac die gaudiosa, dies splendens et formosa. Veni nunc ad redimendum, e rosarum rosa natus, in presepio beatus. O caelorum imperator, sol justitiae vocaris, natus es e stella maris. Clavis David qui aperis, veni nunc desideratus, miserorum memoratus. Nostre vitae fons et acqua, dulcis infans et creator, nobis lumen et salvator. On this bright and beautiful day, A child is born, and I rejoice on this joyful day, a bright and beautiful day. Come now to redeem, O child born of the rose of roses, blessed in the manger. O ruler of the heavens, called the sun of justice, you were born of the star of the sea. Key of David to open, come now O long-desired, mindful of the wretched. Fountain and water of our life, sweet child and creator, our light and savior. Text and translation by Lawrence Rosenwald, arrangement and musical concept Voices of Music. (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.) Voices of Music Hanneke van Proosdij & David Tayler, directors Laura Heimes, soprano Jennifer Ellis Kampani, soprano Carla Moore, baroque violin Elizabeth Blumenstock, baroque violin (violin courtesy of Philharmonia period instrument trust) William Skeen, viola da gamba David Tayler, archlute Hanneke van Proosdij, baroque organ