Brahms-Godowsky - Lullaby, piano solo version (audio + sheet music)

Details

Description

Cradle Song is the common name for a number of children's lullabies with similar lyrics, the original of which was Johannes Brahms's "Wiegenlied: Guten Abend, gute Nacht" ("Good evening, good night"), Op. 49, No. 4, published in 1868 and widely known as Brahms' Lullaby. The lyrics of the first verse are from a collection of German folk poems called Des Knaben Wunderhorn and the second stanza was written by Georg Scherer (1824–1909) in 1849. The lullaby's melody is one of the most famous and recognizable in the world, used by countless parents to sing their babies to sleep. The Lullaby was dedicated to Brahms' friend, Bertha Faber, on the occasion of the birth of her second son. Brahms had been in love with her in her youth and constructed the melody of the Wiegenlied to suggest, as a hidden counter-melody, a song she used to sing to him. The lullaby was first performed in public on 22 December 1869 in Vienna by Louise Dustmann (singer) and Clara Schumann (piano).

Here is the literal AND traditional English translation of the song (separated by a slash):

Good evening, good night, / Lullaby and good night,
With roses covered, / With roses bedight,
With cloves adorned, / With lilies o'er spread
Slip under the covers. / Is baby's wee bed.
Tomorrow morning, if God wills, / Lay thee down now and rest,
you will wake once again. / May thy slumber be blessed.

Good evening, good night. / Lullaby and good night,
By angels watched, / Thy mother's delight,
Who show you in your dream / Bright angels beside
the Christ-child's tree. / My darling abide.
Sleep now blissfully and sweetly, / They will guard thee at rest,
see the paradise in your dream. / Thou shalt wake on my breast.

(Wikipedia)

Please take note that the audio AND the sheet music ARE NOT mine. Change the quality to a minimum of 480p if the video is blurry.

Original audio: pianosociety.com
Original sheet music: imslp.org/wiki/5_Lieder,_Op.49_(Brahms,_Johannes) (Art Publication Society, 1915)