He is Born the Divine Infant - Arrangement
  • Drake
    Posts: 221
    There has been a longstanding tradition of singing Christmas carols for a nearby convent of Carmelite nuns in my area. Since it will be coming up again soon, I made an English SATB arrangement of Il est Ne le Divin Enfant for that event, and thought I'd share it. It's not exactly fair to say that it is my own translation ... more like my own rewording, but I wanted to write the lyrics a bit closer to the French (of which I am essentially illiterate) than "Born is Jesus the Infant King." In doing so, I have perhaps lost a bit of the poetic, but hopefully not too much.

    The melody is the traditional French carol, with my harmonization. Posting in case it may be of use to someone here.

    https://www.catholicliving.net/he-is-born-the-divine-infant/
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen sdtalley3 M. Jackson Osborn
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,414
    This is good. Just one little problem about the translation - in English 'infant' has a stress on the first syllable only, whereas the French has a double stress on 'enfant'. So, it is a little awkward to sing the English 'in-fant' with double stress. I was trying this very afternoon to find an artful translation of this and came up with naught.
    Still, your arrangement is very nice, as is all your work.
    Thanked by 1Drake
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,798
    "He is born, the_ infant God" is more tolerable; the NOBC editors came up with "Christ is born, a_ child on earth".
    Thanked by 2Liam Drake
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    "He is born, the_ infant God"

    Is far better English, idiomatically and in terms of stresses vs the melody, and an excellent dynamic translation (if one considers changing an adjective into a noun dynamic).
    Thanked by 1Drake
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    "He is born, the divine Christ child."
    Thanked by 4Liam Roborgelmeister M. Jackson Osborn Drake
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