Nuit de Noël (“Christmas Night”) is a six-page sketch for solo piano, written in 1908 by the Italian composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924). An Impressionistic tone painting of Christmas night, it is music filled with mysticism and atmosphere.
Gently floating fourths and fifths evoke the magic of falling snowflakes. The rhythm takes the lilting form of a siciliana. A quotation emerges of the Sicilian carol, O sanctissima, known in German-speaking countries as O du fröhliche.
This 2012 recording features Roland Pöntinen:
O Sanctissima
We hear another version of the carol, O sanctissima, on this 1962 recording featuring Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra:
Recordings
- Busoni: Nuit de Noël, BV 251, Roland Pöntinen Amazon
- a recording by Marc-André Hamelin
- The Glorious Sound of Christmas, Eugene Ormandy, The Philadelphia Orchestra Amazon