The ''Berceuses du chat'' (Russian: ''Kolibelniye'', English: ''Cat Lullabies'') is a cycle of four songs for contralto and three clarinetists composed by

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

in 1915. The work is usually referred to by its French title. Although it is usually sung in Russian, Stravinsky assisted his friend, the Swiss author C.F. Ramuz, to make a translation into French at the time of publication. The titles of the four songs are: # ''Spi, kot'' (''Sleep, Tom-Cat'') # ''Kot na pechi'' (''The Tom-Cat on the Stove'') # ''Bay-Bay'' (''Lullaby'') # ''U kota, kota'' (''O Tom-Cat, Tom-Cat'')

Scoring

''Berceuses du chat'' is set for contralto and three clarinettists: E clarinet; B and A clarinet; A clarinet and B bass clarinet.

History

The ''Berceuses du chat'' were composed in 1915, while Stravinsky was living in Switzerland during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.Walsh, Stephen. ''Stravinsky: A Creative Spring: Russia and France, 1882-1934.'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 2000). They are based on Russian folk songs found in the collection of Russian folklorist

Pyotr Kireevsky Pyotr Vasilievich Kireevsky (russian: Пётр Васи́льевич Кире́евский, 23 February 1808 in Dolbino, Likhvinsky Uyezd, Kaluga Governorate – 6 November 1856) was a Russian folklorist and philologist many of whose mate ...

. Stravinsky had purchased the volume in Kiev during his last trip to Kiev in July 1914, just before the outbreak of the war. The cycle was first published in Geneva by H.D. Henn in 1917, and subsequently reissued by J.W. Chester (London) around 1920.

Premières

''Berceuses du chat'' was first heard in Paris (Salle des Agriculteurs) on November 20, 1918 in a program that also included the slightly earlier '' Pribaoutki''; both works were accompanied by piano in this performance. The first performance with clarinets was given in Vienna on June 6, 1919, at a concert of

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

Society for Private Musical Performances The Society for Private Musical Performances (in German, the ) was an organization founded in Vienna in the Autumn of 1918 by Arnold Schoenberg with the intention of making carefully rehearsed and comprehensible performances of newly composed musi ...

(Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen). Again, the program also included the ''Pribaoutki''.

References

{{Igor Stravinsky Igor Stravinsky Compositions by Igor Stravinsky