Brahms - Wiegenlied

Song Information

Title: Wiegenlied
Alternative Title: Brahms’ Lullaby

Music: Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Text:

  • First verse is adapted from a text in Des Knaben Wunderhorn
  • Second verse, added after its composition, is by Georg Scherer (1824-1909)
  • The text is widely attributed to Karl Joseph Simrock (1802–1876), who had apparently included the text in his Deutschen Volksbücher.

Sheet Music

Free at Art Song Central:

Elsewhere on the Internet:

  • The first verse only has been transcribed at the Werner Icking Music Archive.
    • Key: E♭ Major
    • Range: E♭4 - E♭5
    • ABC source file also available to edit or transpose.

Audio Files

Mp3:

MIDI:

Song Text

Text:

Guten Abend, gut Nacht, mit Rosen bedacht,
Mit Näglein besteckt, schlupf unter die Deck’:
Morgen früh, wenn Gott will, wirst du wieder geweckt.
Morgen früh, wenn Gott will, wirst du wieder geweckt.

Guten Abend, gut Nacht, von Englein bewacht,
Die zeigen im Traum, dir Christkindleins Baum:
Schlaf nun selig und süß, schau im Traum’s Paradies.
Schlaf nun selig und süß, schau im Traum’s Paradies.

IPA Transcription:

IPA for Wiegenlied, courtesy of IPANow! transcription software.

Resources

This entry was posted on Friday, July 20th, 2007 at 10:35 pm and is filed under German, IPA, Medium, Songs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Brahms - Wiegenlied”

  1. David Says:
    July 20th, 2007 at 10:47 pm

    I noted the following Brahms quote about this song at the wisdomportal link above: “Frau Bertha will realize that I wrote the ‘Wiegenlied’ for her little one. She will find it quite in order… that while she is singing Hans to sleep, a love song is being sung to her.”

    It could just be coincidence, but I bet this has to do with something I discovered recently while singing “Wie bist du, meine Königin.” Namely, that the first eight notes of that love song are nearly an identical match with the tune of “Wiegenlied,” beginning on the ninth note, in both pitch and rhythm!

    Has anyone ever written about this?

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