Ben ShahnResenhas

Noted 20th-century American artist and illustrator Ben Shahn uses the text and musical arrangement of the 17th-century English Christmas carol, Sweet Was the Song the Virgin Sung, for the text of this picture book presentation, pairing it with his own distinctive artwork. Each two-page spread features text and musical notation on one side, and full-page artwork on the other...

As someone interested in picture books created from Christmas carols and songs, I was pleased to discover Sweet Was the Song, as it is the only such presentation of this song, with which I am familiar. The song itself was originally recorded in a collection of music known as William Ballet's Lute Book, believed to have been published in 1600, and held by the library at Trinity College Dublin. It was reworked in 1901, in the Rev. G.R. Woodward's The Cowley Carol Book For Christmas, Easter, and Ascensiontide, and has since been performed, although not as frequently as more popular holiday songs. I listened to a recording of it available on Youtube (see this video), while reading through Shahn's book.

On the whole, I found this one more interesting than enjoyable. The song isn't a personal favorite—although it's interesting to note that William Ballet's Lute Book is an early source for Greensleeves, which is a personal favorite—and the lyrics don't make for a strong story, being that this is really a lullaby, sung by the Virgin Mary to the infant Jesus. The accompanying artwork, done in black ink, with a limited number of color washes, was (again) interesting, but not really to my taste. I suspect that if I loved the song more, or was more attracted to the artwork, this would have been a more rewarding read. Still, I am glad to have encountered it, in order to add it to my "carols" shelf, and will doubtlessly seek out Partridge in a Pear Tree, Shahn's picture book presentation of The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Ben Shahn (Kaunas, 12 september 1898 - New York City, 14 maart 1969) was een in Litouwen geboren Amerikaanse artiest, muurschilder, sociale activist, fotograaf en leraar. Hij is bekend geworden door zijn werken van sociaal-realisme, zijn linkse politieke overzichten en zijn serie van lezingen gepubliceerd als De Vorm van Inhoud.

Haggadah of Passover: for Members of the Armed Forces of United States, 5704-1944.

OK, 22 letters is kind of long to hold the interest of little kids (and, maybe, adults). But it's a good "first shall be last"/ "raising up the lowly" story. More importantly, it suggests the importance of language, words, letters in creating the world/reality, or at least our understanding of it. The calligraphy is interesting; no color is needed.

There is a note about the book at the end. The text is a loose adaptation of a translation by Maurice Samuel and other sources.½

NO OF PAGES: 0 SUB CAT I: Fiction SUB CAT II: European Jews SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION:
NOTES: SUBTITLE:

Coffee Table size by one of giants of Israeli art. Text and illustrations are unizue. A Treasure to own. GIft from Rabbi Yank Rosenberg.

Beautiful Rendering of Biblical Story.

Beautiful Art work of Artist. Test interesting. Great Gift.1965 GIft from Yank Rosenberg

This is a facsimile edition of the book by Ben Shahn illustrating this 13th-century legend of how God created the world through the letters of the alphabet. Another one for my collection of Abecedaria (or, in this case, Aleph-Betaria?).