Brahms’ Lullaby music box
“Lullaby and goodnight” is probably the most recognisable cradle song in the world. Brahms wrote it as a gift for a new baby, which makes it a fitting tune for a nursery drawer.
- Tune
- Brahms’ Lullaby
- Composer
- Johannes Brahms
- Origin
- Wiegenlied, Op. 49 No. 4, published 1868
The story behind the tune
Johannes Brahms wrote his Wiegenlied (“cradle song”) in 1868 for Bertha Faber, a friend from the women’s choir he had conducted in Hamburg, on the birth of her son. The accompaniment quietly weaves in an Austrian folk song she used to sing to him, a private joke tucked inside a public gift.
The German words, “Guten Abend, gut’ Nacht”, come from the folk-poetry collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn. English versions appeared soon afterwards, and the melody has since been played by countless cot mobiles, musical toys and music boxes.
How it sounds on a music box
The rocking rhythm and soft, falling phrases sound natural on a music box comb, and the tune keeps its calm character even when it is arranged simply. It is the quiet end of the day in a few bars. Final arrangements for the Musical Drawer are still being developed.
Lovely for
- Bedtime routines
- A gift for new parents
- A grandparent’s keepsake for a new grandchild