A berceuse ("cradle song") resembles a lullaby. Since the intended effect is to put a baby to sleep, it often merely alternates tonic and dominant harmonies. It is usually in 6/8 time and in triple meter. The 18th-century composer Frédéric Chopin invented the form. His "Berceuse" (opus 57) was a piano piece consisting of variations in D-flat major. He named it "Variantes" but J. Meissonnier published it as "Berceuse" in 1844. The conductor Charles Hallé visited him that year and described him as "hardly able to move, bent like a half-opened penknife and evidently in great pain." It was composed in 1843, just a 1/2 decade before his death in 1849, in a period of declining productivity. In 1841 he had written a dozen works but only 6 in 1842 and 6 short pieces in 1843. His 1844 production was limited to just 1 sonata (opus 58), and in 1845 he completed 3 mazurkas (opus 59).
A berceuse ("cradle song") resembles a lullaby. Since the intended effect is to put a baby to sleep, it often merely alternates tonic and dominant harmonies. It is usually in 6/8 time and in triple meter. The 18th-century composer Frédéric Chopin invented the form. His "Berceuse" (opus 57) was a piano piece consisting of variations in D-flat major. He named it "Variantes" but J. Meissonnier published it as "Berceuse" in 1844. The conductor Charles Hallé visited him that year and described him as "hardly able to move, bent like a half-opened penknife and evidently in great pain." It was composed in 1843, just a 1/2 decade before his death in 1849, in a period of declining productivity. In 1841 he had written a dozen works but only 6 in 1842 and 6 short pieces in 1843. His 1844 production was limited to just 1 sonata (opus 58), and in 1845 he completed 3 mazurkas (opus 59).
ReplyDeleteVery good explication.
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