Lullabies
"A soothing refrain," runs one dictionary definition for "Lullaby", or, more specifically, "A song to quiet children or lull them to sleep." Surrender to a timeless musical form that covers all traditions with this playlist of lullabies – some sung, some wordless instrumental works – interlaced with other works that soothe and lull.
Read more…Lullabies can be charmingly naive or more sophisticated, often suffused with nostalgia, sometimes meditations on parenthood, childhood or sleep itself. But primarily it's where we hear composers' most personal and moving utterances; where we gain a glimpse into the domestic lives of artists who themselves were loving parents, doting aunts or uncles. And in the case of Ilsa Weber's "Wiegala" it's a form that takes on a heartbreaking poignancy. The final song on this playlist was written by Weber while she was interred in the Theresienstadt transit camp before she and her young son died in Auschwitz in 1944.