Christmas Carols and Their Stories
Puzzle 45 · Carols of Many Lands · Page 67 in print
Carols of Catalonia
In the Catalan carol “Fum, Fum, Fum,” the word fum has been taken for the sound of a rocking cradle, a drum or a strummed guitar, but it literally means smoke, perhaps rising from a chimney.
Jump to a word
The words
Acapulco
Mexican city where El Pessebre was first performed in December 1960.
Catalonia
Casals’s homeland, home of El Cant dels Ocells and “Fum, Fum, Fum”.
Fundació Pau Casals (opens a new tab) · Plough (opens a new tab)
Cello
Casals’s instrument; he arranged the Song of the Birds for it.
El Pessebre
Casals’s oratorio El Pessebre (The Manger).
Fundació Pau Casals (opens a new tab) · Fundació Pau Casals (2) (opens a new tab)
El Vendrell
Catalan town where Casals was born in 1876.
Fum Fum Fum
The Catalan Christmas carol “Fum, Fum, Fum”.
Joan Alavedra
Catalan poet who wrote the text of El Pessebre.
Ocells
“Birds”, from El Cant dels Ocells (The Song of the Birds).
Fundació Pau Casals (opens a new tab) · Plough (opens a new tab)
Pablo Casals
The Catalan cellist (1876–1973) who made El Cant dels Ocells famous.
Fundació Pau Casals (opens a new tab) · Fundació Pau Casals (2) (opens a new tab)
Peace Crusade
Casals’s tours conducting El Pessebre from 1962.
Peace Medal
The UN Peace Medal Casals received on 24 October 1971.
Prades
French town where Casals lived in exile and began El Pessebre.
Fundació Pau Casals (opens a new tab) · Fundació Pau Casals (2) (opens a new tab)
Puerto Rico
Where Casals completed El Pessebre and lived from 1957.
Sardana
The Catalan dance form in which Casals composed.
U Thant
UN Secretary-General who presented the Peace Medal and invited El Pessebre.
Sources
- Fundació Pau Casals (Pau Casals Foundation), “Pablo Casals and the United Nations”paucasals.org
- Plough (Plough Publishing House), “Carol of the Birds”, Plough Music Series, 25 Dec. 2025plough.com
- Fundació Pau Casals, “Biography”paucasals.org
- Fundació Pau Casals, “Compositions”paucasals.org
- Mack Wilberg’s Arrangement of “Fum, Fum, Fum,”: The History and LyricsThe Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, article on Mack Wilberg’s arrangement of “Fum, Fum, Fum”