Classical Music | Music for Quartet

Johannes Brahms

Lullaby  Play

Alireza Khajavi Quartet

Recorded on 09/07/2002, uploaded on 02/07/2010

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Lullaby by: J.Brahms
arr. by Alireza Khajavi
Performed by: The Khajavi Quarted

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Lullaby from 5 Lieder ung Gesänge, op. 49       Johannes Brahms

After the first performance of Ein deutches Requiem, Brahms turned solely to the composition of vocal works during the following summer of 1868. The Magelone Romances and the final chorus of Rinaldo were completed during this time, but also twenty-five Lieder and Gesängewere put together into the five sets that make up op. 43 and opp. 46-49. Many of these songs are settings of poems by the minor poets Daumer and Hölty, with the addition of a few folk texts. Overall, the songs of these sets dispense with the dramatic qualities of the Magelone Romances and embrace an introspective and melancholy expression.

The most famous of the songs from these sets is the Wiegenlied from op. 49, commonly known as "Brahms's Lullaby." Brahms composed the song for Bertha Faber (a member of the Hamburger Frauenchor when Brahms was its director) on the occasion of the birth of her son. The original German lyrics are of folk origin. The melody is commonly heard with English lyrics and the Hebrew words of Jacob's blessing in Genesis 48:16 have also been adapted to it.         Joseph DuBose