Lullaby

Lullabye redirects here. For other uses, see Lullaby (disambiguation)

A lullaby is a soothing song sung to children before they go to sleep. The idea is that the song sung by a familiar voice will lull the child to sleep. Lullabies written by established classical composers are often given the form-name berceuse, which is French for lullaby, or cradle song.

Perhaps the most famous berceuse of all is Johannes Brahms' song Wiegenlied, or "cradle song". , called Brahms' Lullaby in English. Brahms wrote his "Lullaby" originally for a young singer whom he knew, Bertha Faber, on the occasion of the birth of her second son. The English lyrics are similar to the original German lyrics.

Typically a berceuse is in triple meter, or in a compound meter such as 6/8. Tonally most berceuses are simple, often merely alternating tonic and dominant harmonies: since the intended effect is to put a baby to sleep, wild chromaticism would be somewhat out of character. Another characteristic of the berceuse--for no reason other than convention--is a tendency to stay on the "flat side" --for example the berceuses by Chopin, Liszt and Balakirev are all in D♭.

Frédéric Chopin's Opus 57 is a berceuse for solo piano. Other famous examples of the genre include Maurice Ravel's Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré for violin and piano; the Berceuse élégiaque by Ferruccio Busoni; the Berceuse by Igor Stravinsky which is featured in the Firebird ballet, and Lullaby for String Quartet by George Gershwin.

Asia has it's own versions of the lullaby as well. In Tamil (a language of southern India), a lullaby is called a thaalattu (thal means "tongue"). A melodious sound is created by frequent movement of the tongue at the beginning of the song, hence the name.

But most notably is the use of the oyayi in the Philippines, also called huluna in Batangas. In fact, the use of a song in putting a baby to sleep is so popular that almost every mother in the province is said to have composed at least one lullaby for their child.

Rock-a-bye baby

One of the most famous lullabies, "Rock-a-bye Baby", is hardly lulling. Although it starts mildly enough, it quickly turns to disaster:

Rock a bye baby on the tree top,

When the wind blows the cradle will rock,

When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,

And down will come baby, cradle and all.

The author of this lullaby isn't known. The Great American Baby Almanac reports that it was written by a pilgrim on the Mayflower and was inspired by a custom of the Wampanoag native people, who suspend their cradleboards in trees during fine weather. (History of Nursery Rhymes)

Hush Little Baby

Another famous lullaby, generally known as "Hush Little Baby" makes many promises to the child if it will only be quiet and go to sleep, a sentiment with which parents will be familiar:

Hush little baby, don't say a word,

Momma's going to buy you a mockingbird

and goes on to promise "a looking glass", "a horse and coach", and other treasures. The structure is simple enough for parents to ad-lib further verses as required. This song has had the unusual distinction of two separate manifestations as a popular song, first as "Bo Diddley" and then, in a near-fugue arrangement, as "Mockingbird", a hit first for the brother-and-sister team, Inez and Charlie Foxx in 1963, and then, for then husband and wife, James Taylor and Carly Simon in 1974, singing the Foxx arrangement. Toby Keith and his teenage daughter Krystal covered the song in 2004.

In 2005 rapper Eminem adapted "Mockingbird" into a song for his daughter. In it, he threatens to break the bird's neck if it won't sing.

Summertime

A famous lullaby is "Summertime" from the Porgy and Bess musical of 1935. Sometimes it is also referred to as the Gershwin Lullaby. Although many of the jazz improvizations of this song have "wild chromaticism", the original is quite soothing, and somewhat slow and melancholy, in natural minor. The recurring gentle rocking back and forth between A-minor 6th and E-seventh, in the orchestral strings version, is simultaneously both sad and comforting. Additionally, many parents sing this song (unaccompanied) to their children, at bed time.

E+    Am6  E7   Am6
Summertime,     and the living is easy
...
So hush little baby, don't you cry.

All the Pretty Little Horses

Another famous lullaby is "All the Pretty Little Horses" which many children simply know by the first three words of the lyrics: "Hush a bye". Like Summertime this song is also played in natural minor.

Lullaby

And goodnight.

Go to sleep my little ba-by;
When you wake,
you'll have cake,
and all the pretty little horses.

Black and bays,
Dapples and greys,
Coach and six little horses.

Black and bays,
Dapples and greys,
Coach and six little horses.

Lullaby

And goodnight.

Go to sleep my little baby
Sweet roses, go to sleep
Go to sleep my little baby.

Pop Culture

In the 1998 video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Zelda's Lullaby is the first song that players are taught by Impa in the Castle Courtyard. The song is said to have mystical powers, capable of doing extraordinary things. The song is played on the ocarina and is played when players press the left-c, up-c, right-c, left-c, up-c, right-c buttons on the controller while holding the ocarina. This song is used to when accessing parts of hyrule castle which have the tri-force symbol embedded on them.

In the 2000 video game The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Goron's Lullaby is a song players learn in the Northern Mountain. Players learn the first part from the frozen Goron Elder, and the rest from the Goron Baby in the Goron Shrine. It is used to put the Baby Goron to sleep, as well as the Giant Goron in front of Snowhead Temple. The song is played on the ocarina and is played when players press the A, right-c, left-c, A, right-c, left-c, right-c, A buttons on the controller while holding the ocarina.

In the 1998 video game Resident Evil Code: Veronica X, a berceuse melody is played throughout Claire Redfield's adventure in the form of a music box and a self-playing piano. Early in Chris Redfield's half of the game, the melody is set to words by the villainess Alexia Ashford as she cradles her dead twin brother Alfred in her arms. The lyrics to the berceuse are as follows.

There was a friendly but naive king

who wed a very nasty queen.

The king was loved, but

the queen was feared.

Till one day strolling in his court,

an arrow pierced the kind king's heart.

He lost his life and

his lady love.

Discography

External links

Lullabies in traditional music from the county of Nice, France.
Easybyte - free easy piano arrangement of "Wiegenlied / Brahms Lullaby" plus midi sound file.
A Child's Gift of Lullabyes - A collection of contemporary lullaby CDs written and recorded under the supervision of J. Aaron Brown/Someday Baby, Inc. Among them, these seven recordings have garnered two Grammy® awards and eight nominations.
Serrurerie.