''A Charm of Lullabies'', Op.41 is a

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

for

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

with piano accompaniment by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

. It consists of five songs composed on poems by

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

, Robert Greene, Thomas Randolph and

John Phillip John Phillip (19 April 1817–1867) was a Victorian era Scottish painter best known for his portrayals of Spanish life. He started painting these studies after a trip to Spain in 1851. He was nicknamed John 'Spanish' Phillip. Life Born ...

. It was written in 1947 for Nancy Evans, who gave the first performance with Felix de Nobel (piano) at a festival in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

3 January 1948. The score was first published in 1949 by

Boosey and Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and woodwind musical instruments. Formed in 1930 throu ...

in London. A performance of the cycle takes about 12 minutes. The variety of texts lends itself to variety of music, and questions the concept of '

lullaby A lullaby (), or cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies they are used to pass down cultural knowled ...

'; especially the fourth song, "A Charm", which humorously threatens the child with all sorts of torment if it doesn't go to sleep.

The songs

(17571827)"A Cradle Song" (Poems from the

Notebook A notebook (also known as a notepad, writing pad, drawing pad, or legal pad) is a book or stack of paper pages that are often ruled and used for purposes such as note-taking, journaling or other writing, drawing, or scrapbooking. History ...

, 1794, verses 12 and 45 only) #

(175996)"A Highland Balou" (Last Songs for the ''

Scots Musical Museum The ''Scots Musical Museum'' was an influential collection of traditional folk music of Scotland published from 1787 to 1803. While it was not the first collection of Scottish folk songs and music, the six volumes with 100 songs in each collected ...

'', 1792. Published in Volume 5, 1839) # Robert Greene (155892)"Sephestia's Lullaby" (from the prose-poem ''Menaphon'', 1589, verses 1 and 3 only) # Thomas Randolph (160535)"A Charm" (from ''The Jealous Lovers'', 1632, the two stanzas beginning "Quiet sleep") #

()"The Nurse's Song" (from ''The Commodye of Pacient and Meeke Grissill'', 1559, "Lullaby baby, thy nurse will tend thee")

References

Sources

External links

Britten-Pears Foundation

Boosey & Hawkes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charm of Lullabies Song cycles by Benjamin Britten 1947 compositions Classical song cycles in English Musical settings of poems by William Blake Adaptations of works by Robert Greene (dramatist) Adaptations of works by Robert Burns Adaptations of works by Thomas Randolph Songs about sleep