Ben Shahn (1898–1969)

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 show more 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. show less

"Ben Shahn published this marvelous book that is a meditation on the creative process. The Biography of a Painting is full of Shahn's most creative pieces that illustrate the life cycle of a painting's creation. Acceptance, rejection and the evolving process that forms an artist's work. And of course, Shahn discusses his world view and how that intersects with his work."

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.

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?).