A great song from Heaven

Y’all know how much I love watching birds in my backyard. I mean, put out a little birdseed and I’m in for the day. And it’s occurred to me that, generally speaking, all the publicity during this season goes to the large animals—your camels, your sheep, your oxen and your asses. I guess it’s down to the fact that birds seem to be hunkered down in the winter, not as visible and not

So I think we should have something for the, uh, feathered friends. ”El cant dels ocells” (“Carol of the Birds”) is a Catalan carol that became widely known outside Catalonia because of Pablo Casals’ instrumental version on the cello. Casals went into exile after 1939, when the fascist dictator Franco secured his death grip on all of Spain. As a kind of musical “…and the horse you rode in on”, at the end of every concert, Casals played “El cant dels ocells”.

Anyhow, the lyrics are all about how excited the birds are at the birth of Christ, how all their voices are raised. From imperial eagle to sparrow, linnet, owl, canary, woodlark, blackbird, nightingale, greenfinch; they all sing their joy.

I’ll give you two versions of this one. This first was performed by the Escolania de Montserrat here in the District They Call Columbia last summer as part of the celebration of the centenary of John F. Kennedy (Casals had played "El cant dels ocells" at the White House when Jackie invited him to give a concert). The soloist looks pretty uncomfortable, but it’s still an interesting rendition.

The first time I ever heard “Carol of the Birds”, it was this recording, so I’ll leave it with you: