Canzone D'l Zampognari

Traditional Sicilian Carol
Also known by its first line, Quanno nascette Ninno

Music: Canzone D'l Zampognari
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer

1. Quanno nascette Ninno a Betelem me,
E rannotee pa rea miezo journo
Maje le stelle, lusteree belle,
Seve dettero accusi!
La chiu lucen to
Jet tea chiamma li
Magi, in Oriente

2. No n'cerano nemice ppe le terra,
La pecora pascia co lo lione,
Co le crappet
Se vedette
Lo liopardo pazzia:
L'urzo e o vitiello,
E co lu lupo 'npace u pecoriello.

3. Guardavano le pecore lu pasture;
E l'angelo, sbrennente chiu de lu sule,
Comparette
E le dicette:
'No ve spaventate, no!
Contento e riso;
La terra e arrenventata paradise!'

The carol originated in Sicily in approximately the seventeenth century, and is traditionally played on the zampogna (a type of large, sweet-toned bagpipe with two drones and two chanters) by shepherds who come to the villages throughout Italy. The shepherds would serenade private homes and statues of the Virgin Mary in the nine days before Christmas.

It is believed that Handel adopted pipe music with his so-called `Pipers Carol' or `Canzone d'l Zampognari' which he used for "He Shall Feed His Flock Like a Shepherd" in "Messiah." He may have heard this melody during a visit to Naples in 1708, 33 years before composition of the oratorio.

Versions in English include the following titles:

Bagpiper's Carol
Carol of the Bagpipers (Baker Translation)
Carol of the Bagpipers (Simon Translation, copyright 1973)
Carol of the Bagpipes
Italian Pipers’ Carol
On That Most Blessed Night
The Star Carol (Seeger, copyright 1952)
Sicilian Bagpiper's Carol
Song of the (Sicilian) Bagpipers
When Christ, The Son of Mary (Adaptation of Gordon Hitchcock translation by Keyte and Parrott, copyright 1992)

Neither "The Star Carol" by Hutson and Burt, nor "The Shepherd's Pipe Carol" by John Ritter, are based on this carol.