"Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf" ("Sleep, dear child, sleep") is a German

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 knowledg ...

. The oldest surviving version is a text and melody fragment of the first stanza, which appears in 1611 as part of a

quodlibet A quodlibet (; Latin for "whatever you wish" from '' quod'', "what" and '' libet'', "pleases") is a musical composition that combines several different melodies—usually popular tunes—in counterpoint, and often in a light-hearted, humorous m ...

in Melchior Franck's ''Fasciculus quodlibeticus''. The current melody of the lullaby was composed by

Johann Friedrich Reichardt Johann Friedrich Reichardt (25 November 1752 – 27 June 1814) was a German composer, writer and music critic. Early life Reichardt was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, to lutenist and ''Stadtmusiker'' Johann Reichardt (1720–1780). Johann Fr ...

in 1781 after a folk tune and also used for "" (

cockchafer The cockchafer, colloquially called Maybug, Maybeetle, or doodlebug, is the name given to any of the European beetles of the genus ''Melolontha'', in the family Scarabaeidae. Once abundant throughout Europe and a major pest in the periodical ye ...

fly). The currently known text version was distributed by the third volume of the collection ''

Des Knaben Wunderhorn ''Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Alte deutsche Lieder'' (German; "The boy's magic horn: old German songs") is a collection of German folk poems and songs edited by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano, and published in Heidelberg, Baden. The book was p ...

'' (1808). As a template for the first stanza was a Low German version of

Johann Friedrich Schütze Johann Friedrich Schütze, pseudonym: ''Jäger'', was a German author. Life Schütze was born on 1 April 1758 in Altona near Hamburg in north Germany. He was the son of Gottfried Schütze. He attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums, the ...

's ''Holstein Idioticon'' (1806), the other stanzas are added poetry of

Clemens Brentano Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano (also Klemens; pseudonym: Clemens Maria Brentano ; ; 9 September 1778 – 28 July 1842) was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz ...

Franz Magnus Böhme Franz Theodor Magnus Böhme (11 March 1827 in Willerstedt – 18 October 1898 in Dresden) was a German academic, musicologist, composer, folksong collector and writer on music history and folksong. Biography The son of a farmer, Böhme becam ...

reprinted 36 text variants in 1897. Johannes Brahms set the text to his own music as No. 11 in his collection ''15 Volkskinderlieder'',

WoO Woo, WoO, WOO, W.O.O. and variants may refer to: People Woo or Wu, romanization of several East Asian names: * Hu (surname): 胡, 瓠, 護, 戶, 扈, 虎, 呼, 忽, 斛 * Wu (surname): 吳, 伍, 武, 仵, 烏, 鄔, 巫 * Ng (name): 吳, 伍 * ...

31 (1857).

Melody

The melody by

is from 1781. \relative c'' \addlyrics

Text

Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf, Der Vater hüt die Schaf, Die Mutter schüttelts Bäumelein, Da fällt herab ein Träumelein, Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf. Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf, Am Himmel ziehn die Schaf, Die Sternlein sind die Lämmerlein, Der Mond der ist das Schäferlein, Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf. Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf, Christkindlein hat ein Schaf, Ist selbst das liebe Gotteslamm, Das um uns all zu Tode kam, Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf! Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf, So schenk ich dir ein Schaf Mit einer goldnen Schelle fein, Das soll dein Spielgeselle sein, Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf! Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf, Und blöck nicht wie ein Schaf, Sonst kömmt des Schäfers Hündelein, Und beißt mein böses Kindelein, Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf. Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf, Geh fort und hüt die Schaf, Geh fort du schwarzes Hündelein, Und weck mir nicht mein Kindelein, Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf. Sleep my child, sleep Your father tends the sheep, Your mother shakes the apple tree, As falls down a dream for thee Sleep my child, sleep Sleep, my child, sleep In the sky there drag the sheep The shepherd, he is like the moon In the sky with lambs bestrewn Sleep my child, sleep Sleep my child, sleep Christ child has a sheep, Your beloved mother shears the ram to make fine clothes for madame Sleep, my child, sleep Sleep, my child, sleep then I will give you a lamb with the finest golden clamp which will be your playmate then Sleep, my child, sleep Sleep, my child sleep Don't bleat like a sheep or else there'll come the shepherd's dog and bites my little child so bad Sleep, my child, sleep Sleep, my child, sleep Go away and tend the sheep Go away you black dog, so mad and leave alone my little brat Sleep, my child, sleep Sleep, my child, sleep out there walks a sheep but now its time for beddy-byes so come on, my child close your eyes Sleep, my child, sleep.

References

External links

*{{YouTube, f3VDcvohXhY, Animated score, soprano Lullabies German poems German folk songs German-language songs German children's songs Traditional children's songs