“Cantique de Noël”

December 22, 1945: New York, Rockefeller Center

Unknown pianist

December 21, 1946: New York, Rockefeller Center

Unknown pianist

December 20, 1954: Stockholm, Södersjukhuset

Harry Ebert, pf.

WHRA-6036

February 8, 1959: Stockholm, Concert Hall

Royal Court Orchestra, cond. Nils Grevillius

EMI 5 75900 2

The “Cantique de Noël”—“Julsång” in Augustin Kock's Swedish translation—is as good a place to start as any, not only because the names of the composer, Adolphe Adam, begin with an A, but also because his Christmas song deals joyfully with the theme of birth. This song, which sets a text by Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure and was first performed on December 24, 1847, has long been part of the repertoire in Swedish churches at Christmas. Although Björling's first recording was made half-way through his adult career, he had probably performed the “Julsång” since childhood. The song's popularity in the early twentieth century is demonstrated by the fact that it was included in the world's first audio radio broadcast of music, relayed on December 24, 1906, from Brant Rock in Massachusetts. Björling's first three recordings of the “Julsång” were also Christmas broadcasts. And although two of them were made in New York, he stuck to the Swedish translation—singing the first and third verses, with unchanging words in the refrain—as if to underline the fact that he associated this music with Yuletide in his own land (both performances were relayed shortwave to Sweden).