Wiegenlied (Brahms) facts for kids
Johannes Brahms's "Wiegenlied" ("Lullaby"; "Cradle Song"), Op. 49, No. 4, is a lied for voice and piano which was first published in 1868. It is one of the composer's most popular songs.
Contents
Song
The song has been described as deceptively simple. In its original publication it only had a single verse.
Lyrics
The lyrics are from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a collection of German folk poems:
Guten Abend, gut' Nacht, |
Good evening, good night, |
—First edition (1868) | —Translation |
Later, Brahms adapted a second verse from a 1849 poem by Georg Scherer :
Guten Abend, gut' Nacht, |
Good evening, good night. |
—Georg Scherer (1849) | —Translation |
Melody
<score %vorbis="1"%%T257066%> \relative g' {\set Staff.midiInstrument = #"flute" \key es \major \time 3/4 \autoBeamOff \partial 4 g8 g | bes4. g8 g4 | bes r g8[_( bes)] | es4 d4. c8 | c4( bes) f8[_( g)] |aes4 f f8[_( g)] | aes4 r f8[_( aes)] | d[_( c)] bes4 d | es r es,8 es | es'2 c8 aes | bes2 g8 es | aes4 bes c | \appoggiatura g8 bes2 es,8 es | es'2 c8 aes | bes2 g8 es | \afterGrace aes4( { bes16[ aes]) } g4 f | es2 \bar "|." } \addlyrics { Gu -- ten A -- bend, gut' Nacht, mit Ro -- sen be -- dacht, mit Näg -- lein be -- steckt, schlupf un -- ter die Deck': Mor -- gen früh, wenn Gott will, wirst du wie -- der ge -- weckt, mor -- gen früh, wenn Gott will, wirst du wie -- der ge -- weckt. } </score>
In 1877, Brahms based the second theme of the first movement of his Second Symphony on the lullaby's tune. The melody is first introduced in bar 82 and continues to develop throughout the movement.
Arrangements
In 1922, Australian pianist and composer Percy Grainger arranged the "Wiegenlied" as one of his "Free Settings of Favorite Melodies" for solo piano. This study was characterized by much use of suspensions and arpeggiation, with the first statement of the melody placed in the tenor range of the keyboard. This last practice was a favorite one of Grainger.
Recordings
Recordings include:
- 1958 Joni James – recorded for her album Among My Souvenirs.
- 1962 Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano) and Gerald Moore on Testament Records (UK) 1206.
- 1989 Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) and Bengt Forsberg (piano) on Deutsche Grammophon 429727.
- 1994 Kenny G – recorded as instrumental "Brahms Lullaby" for his album Miracles: The Holiday Album.
- 2013 Bernarda Fink (mezzo-soprano) and Roger Vignoles (piano).
Rec. | Singer | V. type | Instr. | I. type | Cond. (arr.) | Time | Issuer | Released |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1915 | Schumann-Heink, Ernestine | contralto | N.N. | orchestra | N.N. | 2:06 | Nimbus | 1990-07 |
1935-02-26 | Schumann, Elisabeth | soprano | Reeves, George | piano | — | 1:35 | Naxos | 2006-05 |
1937-03-11 | N.N. | orchestra | Goehr, Walter | 1:59 | ||||
1941-05-23 | Crosby, Bing | vocals | Trotter orchestra | orchestra | Trotter, John Scott | 2:46 | MCA | 1993 |
1954-06-16 | Cole Trio | jazz trio | Cole, Buddy | 1:27 | ||||
1941-11-12 | Lehmann, Lotte | soprano | Ulanowsky, Paul | piano | — | 2:17 | Eklipse | 1993-07 |
1943-12-12 | SFS | orchestra | Monteux, Pierre | 2:07 | Eklipse | 1993-07 | ||
1947-12-22 | N.N. | orchestra | Armbruster, Robert | 2:43 | Naxos | 2007-11 | ||
1948-08-05 | N.N. | orchestra | Ormandy, Eugene | 3:12 | Eklipse | 1993-07 | ||
1950-02-12 | Walter, Bruno | piano | — | 1:47 | Eklipse | 1995-09 | ||
1944-12-03 | Sinatra, Frank | vocals | 35 instrumentalists | orchestra | Stordahl, Axel | 3:06 | Columbia | 1993-10-05 |
1953-02-03 | Clooney, Rosemary | vocals | Faith orchestra | orchestra | Faith, Percy | 2:43 | Columbia | 1953-02 |
1979-11 | Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich | baritone | Barenboim, Daniel | piano | — | 1:24 | DG | 1983 |
2001-04 | — | Lane, Piers | piano | (Grainger, Percy) | 3:41 | Hyperion | 2002-06 |
- Schmidt, August (14 May 1844). "Revue: im Stich erschienener Musikalien. Gebirgs-Bleameln, sechs Lieder in österreichischer Mundart für eine oder zwei Singstimmen mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, nach National-Melodien gedichtet und herausgegeben von Alexander Baumann. II. Heft. (3. Werk.) Wien bei Anton Diabelli & Comp." (in de). Allgemeine Wiener Musik-Zeitung (Vienna: Mechetti) IV (58): 231–232. https://books.google.com/books?id=MdMqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA231.
- [[scores:{{{id}}}|J. Brahms: 5 Songs, Op. 49]]: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project
See also
In Spanish: Canción de cuna (Brahms) para niños