Berceuse Explained

A French: '''berceuse''' in French pronounced as /bɛʁsøz/ is "a musical composition usually in time that resembles a lullaby".^[1] Otherwise it is typically in triple meter. Tonally most berceuses are simple, often merely alternating tonic and dominant harmonies; since the intended effect is to put a baby to sleep, wild chromaticism would be somewhat inappropriate. Another characteristic of the berceuse, for no reason other than convention, is a tendency to stay on the "flat side"; noted examples including the berceuses by Chopin, who pioneered the form,^[2] Liszt, and Balakirev, which are all in D.

Music

• Berceuse pour deux notes qui cornent (for two notes which continue), for organ, JA 7, by Jehan Alain
• Berceuse de Jeanne, by Harrison Birtwistle
• Wiegenlied (Brahms), a cradle song, is a berceuse; it is better known in English as Brahms's Lullaby
• Berceuse, by Frank Bridge, for cello and piano
• Compositions by Ferruccio Busoni
  • Berceuse (in C major) Op. 2, for piano
  • Berceuse (Lullaby), for piano
  • Berceuse élégiaque
• Berceuse, for piano by Frédéric Chopin
• "Berceuse for the Infant Jesu" in A Little Suite for Christmas, by George Crumb
• Berceuse Heroique, for piano, by Claude Debussy
• Two compositions by Gabriel Fauré
  • Berceuse, Op. 16.
  • "Berceuse" section of Dolly Suite for Piano four-hands, Op. 56, No. 1, by Fauré. Sometimes transcribed for violin and piano: not to be confused with the Op. 16 work, above.
• Berceuse for an Unwanted Child (Reginald Foresythe) 1934
• Berceuse de Jocelyn, a lullaby from the opera "Jocelyn" by Benjamin Godard
• Berceuse de Jupiter, also known as the aria "Que Les Songes Heureux" from the opera "Philémon et Baucis", by Charles Gounod
• Grieg Lyric Pieces Op. 38 No. 1
• "Berceuse" from 114 Songs (1922) by Charles Ives
• Berceuse by Armas Järnefelt 1904
• "Berceuse" from 12 Transcendental Études by Sergei Lyapunov
• Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré by Maurice Ravel for violin and piano
• "Berceuse" in Six pieces for violin and piano, Op 79, No. 6, by Jean Sibelius
• One of the excerpts from The Firebird, a ballet by Igor Stravinsky
• Berceuse for Solo Piano in A flat Major, Op. 72, No. 2, by Tchaikovsky
• Berceuse (sur les paroles classiques), from 24 Pieces in Free Style, for organ, by Louis Vierne
• Berceuse for Mallory, a big band jazz composition by Steve Spiegl
• French online radio station titled berceuses.com with lullabies for children

Art

• La Berceuse, a series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh

Notes and References

1. berceuse. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved August 8, 2010, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/berceuse
2. Jeremy Siepmann, The Piano: The Complete Illustrated Guide to the World's Most Popular Musical Instrument (1998), p. 67.