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Wiegenlied (Brahms) facts for kids

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Guten Abend, gut Nacht (Brahms)
Johannes Brahms, Wiegenlied

Johannes Brahms's "Wiegenlied" ("Lullaby"; "Cradle Song"), Op. 49, No. 4, is a lied for voice and piano which was first published in 1868. It is one of the composer's most popular songs.

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:

Guten Abend, gut' Nacht,
mit Rosen bedacht,
mit Näglein besteckt,
schlupf' unter die Deck':
Morgen früh, wenn Gott will,
wirst du wieder geweckt.

Good evening, good night,
With roses covered,
With cloves adorned,
Slip under the covers.
Tomorrow morning, if God wills,
you will wake once again.
—First edition (1868) —Translation


Later, Brahms adapted a second verse from a 1849 poem by Georg Scherer [de]:

Guten Abend, gut' Nacht,
von Englein bewacht,
die zeigen im Traum
dir Christkindleins Baum:
schlaf nun selig und süß,
schau im Traum 's Paradies.

Good evening, good night.
By angels watched,
Who show you in your dream
the Christ-child's tree.
Sleep now blissfully and sweetly,
see paradise in your dreams.
—Georg Scherer (1849) —Translation


Melody

<score %vorbis="1"%%T257066%> \relative g' {\set Staff.midiInstrument = #"flute" \key es \major \time 3/4 \autoBeamOff \partial 4 g8 g | bes4. g8 g4 | bes r g8[_( bes)] | es4 d4. c8 | c4( bes) f8[_( g)] |aes4 f f8[_( g)] | aes4 r f8[_( aes)] | d[_( c)] bes4 d | es r es,8 es | es'2 c8 aes | bes2 g8 es | aes4 bes c | \appoggiatura g8 bes2 es,8 es | es'2 c8 aes | bes2 g8 es | \afterGrace aes4( { bes16[ aes]) } g4 f | es2 \bar "|." } \addlyrics { Gu -- ten A -- bend, gut' Nacht, mit Ro -- sen be -- dacht, mit Näg -- lein be -- steckt, schlupf un -- ter die Deck': Mor -- gen früh, wenn Gott will, wirst du wie -- der ge -- weckt, mor -- gen früh, wenn Gott will, wirst du wie -- der ge -- weckt. } </score>

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.

Arrangements

In 1922, Australian pianist and composer Percy Grainger arranged the "Wiegenlied" 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.

Recordings

Recordings include:

  • 1958 Joni James – recorded for her album Among My Souvenirs.
  • 1962 Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano) and Gerald Moore on Testament Records (UK) 1206.
  • 1989 Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) and Bengt Forsberg (piano) on Deutsche Grammophon 429727.
  • 1994 Kenny G – recorded as instrumental "Brahms Lullaby" for his album Miracles: The Holiday Album.
  • 2013 Bernarda Fink (mezzo-soprano) and Roger Vignoles (piano).
Recordings of Brahms's "Wiegenlied"
Rec. Singer V. type Instr. I. type Cond. (arr.) Time Issuer Released
1915 Schumann-Heink, Ernestine contralto N.N. orchestra N.N. 2:06 Nimbus 1990-07
1935-02-26 Schumann, Elisabeth soprano Reeves, George piano — 1:35 Naxos 2006-05
1937-03-11 N.N. orchestra Goehr, Walter 1:59
1941-05-23 Crosby, Bing vocals Trotter orchestra orchestra Trotter, John Scott 2:46 MCA 1993
1954-06-16 Cole Trio jazz trio Cole, Buddy 1:27
1941-11-12 Lehmann, Lotte soprano Ulanowsky, Paul piano — 2:17 Eklipse 1993-07
1943-12-12 SFS orchestra Monteux, Pierre 2:07 Eklipse 1993-07
1947-12-22 N.N. orchestra Armbruster, Robert 2:43 Naxos 2007-11
1948-08-05 N.N. orchestra Ormandy, Eugene 3:12 Eklipse 1993-07
1950-02-12 Walter, Bruno piano — 1:47 Eklipse 1995-09
1944-12-03 Sinatra, Frank vocals 35 instrumentalists orchestra Stordahl, Axel 3:06 Columbia 1993-10-05
1953-02-03 Clooney, Rosemary vocals Faith orchestra orchestra Faith, Percy 2:43 Columbia 1953-02
1979-11 Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich baritone Barenboim, Daniel piano — 1:24 DG 1983
2001-04 — Lane, Piers piano (Grainger, Percy) 3:41 Hyperion 2002-06
  • Schmidt, August (14 May 1844). "Revue: im Stich erschienener Musikalien. Gebirgs-Bleameln, sechs Lieder in österreichischer Mundart für eine oder zwei Singstimmen mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, nach National-Melodien gedichtet und herausgegeben von Alexander Baumann. II. Heft. (3. Werk.) Wien bei Anton Diabelli & Comp." (in de). Allgemeine Wiener Musik-Zeitung [wikisource:de] (Vienna: Mechetti) IV (58): 231–232. https://books.google.com/books?id=MdMqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA231.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Canción de cuna (Brahms) para niños

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