SKU: A0.1118114

“El Noi de la Mare� (“The Mother's Child�) is a traditional Catalan carol of the nativity. The song is sung from the perspective of children who, upon seeing the Christ Child, ask “What should we give to the Child of the Mother?� First they choose their best-tasting foods: raisins, figs, walnuts and olives; then, a blanket for warmth from the cold. Finally, angels descend from Heaven to cradle the Child, singing “songs of glory that are not of the world.�

The carol may date from 18th-century Catalonia, which is today an autonomous community of Spain lying mostly on the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, with Barcelona — Spain's second-most populous city — as its capital.

The Spanish guitar master Andres Segovia (1893-1987) often performed Miguel Llobet's (1878-1938) transcription of this simple, lovely tune as an encore.

This arrangement is an ideal vehicle to teach lyrical playing and legato style; dynamic control and the shaping of phrases; and the “handing-off� of phrases and phrase segments from one section to another to sustain and complete a musical idea. Ranges and technical demands are conservative, yet rich harmonization and colorful instrument combinations make this very satisfying, musically.