Brahm's Lullaby
Becky Johnson
Does anyone know the words to Brahm's Lullaby? My mother used to sing it to
me, but when I asked her she got the first two lines and said the rest was
"la da da..." ;o)
Heather M.
(Had to look this one up! I'm a "la da da" singer too!)
Brahm's Lullaby
Lullaby and goodnight,
With lilies of white
And roses of red
To pillow your head
May you wake when the day
Chases darkness away,
May you wake when the day
Chases darkness away.
Lullaby and goodnight.
Let angels of light
Spread wings round your bed
And guard you from dread.
Slumber gently and deep
In the dreamland of sleep,
Slumber gently and deep
In the dreamland of sleep.
Heather
t. & p. & t.
Hey, my version was the guaranteed sleep-inducer.
Go to sleep
Sleepy sleep
Sleepy sleepy, sleepy sleepy
Snoozy snooze
Snoozy snooze
Sleepy sleepy snoo-zy snooze.
Sleepy sleepy, snoozy snoozy,
Snoozy sleepy snooze snore.
Snoozy sleepy, sleepy snoozy
Snoozy sleepy snooze snore.
(yawwwwn)
t.r. & Torin (2/13/96)
Becky Johnson
It may take me a while to memorize all the verses, but I'll give it a try!
t. & p. & t. wrote in message <353DA9...@seanet.com>...
Ann Hollett
This is the version I use. Found it in a book when my son
was very young. We still sing at night when he goes off
to sleep. It's one of his favourites.
Lullaby and Good night
In the sky stars are bright
Round your head, flowers gay
scent your slumbers til day.
Close your eyes now and rest,
May these hours be blest,
Go to sleep now and rest,
May these hours be blest.
Hope this helps
Ann
Mom to Philip (30/06/93) due with #2 June 11
Margaret Mills
Lullaby, and goodnight,
Go to bed now and sleep tight.
Close your eyes and start to yawn.
Pleasant dreams until the dawn.
When the sun lights the sky,
You will wake feeling nigh.
Start your day with a smile.
Life is really worthwhile.
That's the version we sing at our house, nightly :-)
ad...@irvine.com
Christopher Biow wrote:
> I find two websites that appear to have original lyrics. I can't be sure of
> the authenticity; did Brahms do his own English lyrics or translation? If
> the German is original, I'd love to see it. None of the online biographies
> so much as mention the lullaby, even though it's probably his most commonly
> performed work by a factor of 10,000!
Not by symphony orchestras, I'm sure. I don't think musicologists
take things like mobiles into account when determining the relative
importance of a musical work. :)
> Why is it that composition and
> literature for children are not taken seriously as great works?
While I'm not an authority, I am a really big fan of Brahms, so I'll
take a stab at some of the questions:
I don't think Brahms' Lieder (songs) in general are taken as seriously
as his symphonies, concertos, solo piano works, and Hungarian dances.
(I'm not counting the Liebeslieder waltzes.) He wrote a number of
them, but not as many as Schubert, who is known for his Lieder, or
Schumann. Brahms' Lieder, including Wiegenlied (the lullaby), are
very nice ("Sonntag" is my favorite), but musically they're just not
considered important compared to the rest of his body of work.
I don't know where the words to Wiegenlied came from. Brahms didn't
generally write his own lyrics, and I think this is true for Schubert
and Schumann also. A few of Brahms' Lieder, for instance, were based
on poetry by Goethe. I don't know whether the words to the lullaby
were Brahms' own or not. Since Brahms, unlike Handel, didn't spend
any time in England, I seriously doubt he would have written the
English lyrics or translated them himself; in fact, I don't think he
would have had any reason to speak any English at all. If he got the
lyrics from somewhere else, it's possible they were originally in a
different language, but I suspect the lyrics were originally German.
When I was younger, Dad used to enjoy singing the Lieder of Schubert,
Schumann, and Brahms, with either Mom or myself accompanying. My
parents still have the books, but unfortunately I don't have easy
access to them, or else I could give you the German lyrics and an idea
of their original source. There are two stanzas IIRC. I only
remember the first line:
Guten Abend, gut' Nacht, mit Rosen bedacht . . .
-- Adam
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Christopher Biow
"Becky Johnson" <rjoh...@ntnt.com> wrote:
>Does anyone know the words to Brahm's Lullaby? My mother used to sing it to
>me, but when I asked her she got the first two lines and said the rest was
>"la da da..." ;o)
I find two websites that appear to have original lyrics. I can't be sure of
the authenticity; did Brahms do his own English lyrics or translation? If
the German is original, I'd love to see it. None of the online biographies
so much as mention the lullaby, even though it's probably his most commonly
performed work by a factor of 10,000! Why is it that composition and
literature for children are not taken seriously as great works?
Anyway, these words are as beautiful as the melody. Our family owes equally
great debts in recovered sleep and peace to Mr. Brahms and Dr. Ferber.
http://web2.airmail.net/pippin0/music/kid/brahms.htm
http://www.stairway.org/kidsongs/l016.htm agree on the words; here is the
first stanza. The later stanzas don't sound original to my ear.
Lullaby, and good night,
With pink roses bedight*,
With lilies o'erspread,
Is my baby's sweet head.
Lay you down now, and rest,
May your slumber be blessed!
Lay you down now, and rest,
May thy slumber be blessed!
*Definition from 1913 Webster:
Be*dight" (?), v. t. [p. p. Bedight, Bedighted.] To bedeck; to array or
equip; to adorn. [Archaic] Milton.
I've also heard this version:
Lullabye, and goodnight
with roses bedight
with lilies bespread
as babies we bed
close your eyes now and rest
may your slumber be blest
http://web2.airmail.net/pippin0/music/kida-l.htm provides a huge list of
kids songs with melodies and lyrics, though some are definitely not
original (e.g La Cucaracha).
Kim
Made me sleepy just reading it to myself and humming the tune. Gosh, 2
more hours of work... zzzz
KIM R.
Peter Lamb
bi...@ezmort.com (Christopher Biow) writes:
>"Becky Johnson" <rjoh...@ntnt.com> wrote:
There is the German version side-by-side with a reasonably faithful, but
probably unsingable (:-() English translation at:
http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/various/brahms49.4.html
According to the recmusic page, the first verse is a traditional German
song, and the second verse is by Georg Scherer. The English translation
on the page is by Emily Ezust, but as I said, I think it would be
difficult to sing those words to Brahms's music.
Curiously, the German version says nothing about lilies, that line is
"Mit naeglein bestecket"; "Covered with cloves"!
Apart from that, the second of the two translations of the first verse
that Christopher quotes is fairly close, except the last two lines:
Emily Ezust's translation
Morgen frueh, wenn Gott will, Early tomorrow, God willing,
Wirst du wieder geweckt. Will you be woken again.
If you want to hunt for it on the Web, try searching for it using
"wiegenlied" (lit. cradle song) and "brahms" to find the German version.
--
Peter Lamb <peter...@no.spam.for.me.cmis.csiro.au>
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Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of CSIRO Australia.
Christopher Biow
Peter Lamb <peter...@no.spam.for.me.cmis.csiro.au> wrote:
>bi...@ezmort.com (Christopher Biow) writes:
>There is the German version side-by-side with a reasonably faithful, but
>probably unsingable (:-() English translation at:
> http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/various/brahms49.4.html
Thanks! I'd looked through the recmusic site, but was unable to find this
Wiegenlied under Brahms; there was another one shown with his works that
bore no resemblance.
>According to the recmusic page, the first verse is a traditional German
>song, and the second verse is by Georg Scherer. The English translation
>on the page is by Emily Ezust, but as I said, I think it would be
>difficult to sing those words to Brahms's music.
So there probably cannot be a canonical English version, but I am still
left wondering exactly who was originally responsible for translating and
popularizing the song in English. The later stanzas on the two sites I
posted do seem to have been written independently of any German original.
>Curiously, the German version says nothing about lilies, that line is
>"Mit naeglein bestecket"; "Covered with cloves"!
Sometimes it's not merely the semantics and meter that don't translate!
>Apart from that, the second of the two translations of the first verse
>that Christopher quotes is fairly close, except the last two lines:
> Emily Ezust's translation
>Morgen frueh, wenn Gott will, Early tomorrow, God willing,
> Wirst du wieder geweckt. Will you be woken again.
Hmm. It's funny that would be PC'ified at a time when the "if I die before
I wake" prayer was still a staple in English.
>If you want to hunt for it on the Web, try searching for it using
>"wiegenlied" (lit. cradle song) and "brahms" to find the German version.
Thanks again; that's the one combination I'd not tried.
Lia
> Does anyone know the words to Brahm's Lullaby? My mother used to sing it to
> me, but when I asked her she got the first two lines and said the rest was
> "la da da..." ;o)