"" ("Lullaby"; "Cradle Song"), Op. 49, No. 4, is a

lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

for voice and piano by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

which was first published in 1868. It is one of the composer's most popular pieces.

History

Brahms based the music of his "Wiegenlied" partially on "S'Is Anderscht", a duet by published in the 1840s. The cradle song was dedicated to Brahms's friend, Bertha Faber, on the occasion of the birth of her second son.Opus 49, Fünf Lieder für eine Singstimme und Klavier
at Brahms-Institut (Lübeck) website. Brahms had been in love with her in her youth and constructed the melody of the "" to suggest, as a hidden

counter-melody In music, a counter-melody (often countermelody) is a sequence of notes, perceived as a melody, written to be played simultaneously with a more prominent lead melody. In other words, it is a secondary melody played in counterpoint with the prima ...

, a song she used to sing to him.

Simrock Simrock may refer to the German sheet music publisher N. Simrock, or one of the following members of the Simrock family engaged in that business: * Nikolaus Simrock, (1751–1832), founder of N. Simrock * Karl Joseph Simrock (1802–1876), son of N ...

published Brahms's Op. 49 in November 1868. The lullaby was first performed in public on 22 December 1869 in Vienna by Luise Dustmann (singer) and

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...

(piano).

Song

The song has been described as deceptively simple. In its original publication it only had a single verse.

Lyrics

The lyrics are from ''

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