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

lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

for voice and piano by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

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

, a song she used to sing to him. Simrock 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 music, Romantic era, she exerted her influence o ...

(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 '' Des Knaben Wunderhorn'', a collection of German folk poems: Later, Brahms adapted a second verse from an 1849 poem by :

Melody

\relative g' \addlyrics 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.

Reception

The "" is one of Brahms's most popular songs.

Arrangements

In 1922, Australian pianist and composer

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who moved to the United States in 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long and ...

arranged the "" 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.

Cultural references

A 1936

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films ...

of Brahms with Albert Florath as the composer, took its title from the opening lines of this song, ''Guten Abend, gute Nacht''.

Wendy Cope Wendy Cope (born 21 July 1945) is a contemporary English poet. She read history at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She now lives in Ely, Cambridgeshire, with her husband, the poet Lachlan Mackinnon. Biography Cope was born in Erith in Kent (now ...

's poem "Brahms Cradle Song" refers to this song.

Cultural interpretations

In an article published in 2005, Karen Bottge analysed Brahms's "Wiegenlied" as an expression of the maternal voice, basing her reflections on writings by theorists such as

Friedrich Kittler Friedrich Adolf Kittler (June 12, 1943 – October 18, 2011) was a literary scholar and a media theorist. His works relate to Mass media, media, technology, and the military. Biography Friedrich Adolf Kittler was born in 1943 in Rochlitz in S ...

, Michel Chion,

Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze (18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes o ...

Félix Guattari Pierre-Félix Guattari ( ; ; 30 March 1930 – 29 August 1992) was a French psychoanalyst, political philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, social activist, and screenwriter. He co-founded schizoanalysis with Gilles Deleuze, and created ecosophy ...

, and

Theodor W. Adorno Theodor W. Adorno ( ; ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, musicologist, and social theorist. He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of critical theory, whose work has com ...

Recordings

Recordings include: * 1958

Joni James Giovanna Carmella Babbo (September 22, 1930 – February 20, 2022), known professionally as Joni James, was an American singer of traditional pop. Biography Giovanna Carmella Babbo was born to an Italian-American family in Chicago, Illinois, on ...

– recorded for her album ''Among My Souvenirs''. * 1962

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, (; 9 December 1915 – 3 August 2006) was a German-born Austro-British lyric soprano. She was among the foremost singers of lieder, and is renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta, as w ...

(soprano) and

Gerald Moore Gerald Moore (30 July 1899 – 13 March 1987) was an English classical pianist best known for his career as a collaborative pianist for many distinguished musicians. Among those with whom he was closely associated were Dietrich Fischer-Diesk ...

on Testament Records (UK) 1206. * 1989 Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) and Bengt Forsberg (piano) on

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

429727. * 1994

Kenny G Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. His 1986 album ''Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selli ...

– recorded as instrumental "Brahms Lullaby" for his album '' Miracles: The Holiday Album''. * 2013 Bernarda Fink (mezzo-soprano) and Roger Vignoles (piano).''Brahms Lieder''
review by Richard Wigmore, ''

Gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
Wiegenlied, op.49, nr.4, "Guten Abend, gut Nacht"
at (recordings) {{Authority control Lieder composed by Johannes Brahms Lullabies 1868 songs Compositions in E-flat major Music based on Des Knaben Wunderhorn