Background
There is a story behind this piece!
For years the men of the Los Angeles Master Chorale have sung the rousing TTBB version of “Brightest and Best” on LAMC’s carols concerts. There were a couple of years when, as a counterpart to the men, the women sang my gentle, quiet setting of “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella.” However, when humorously couched by maestro Grant Gershon as “the battle of the sexes,” this competition didn’t seem like a fair match-up; the men got to sing a rowdy and rafter-raising carol while the women had to vie with a soft lullaby. So, I decided to level the playing field the next year by writing a rowdy women’s choir version of Pat-a-pan, and then — to balance things out — to write a soft, gentle carol for the men. I’ve always loved the winsome, “scalloped” phrases in this beautiful Czech carol, and thought it would turn into a perfect lullaby to be sung by a choir of loving fathers.
Little baby, softly sleep, do not stir,
We will lend a coat of fur.
We will rock you, rock you, rock you…
Cradled in our loving arms,
We will keep you from all harm.
Baby Jesus, little one, Mary’s son,
Sleep now, for the day is done.
We will rock you, rock you, rock you…
Cradled in our loving arms,
We will keep you from all harm.
Little baby, softly sleep, do not stir,
We will lend a coat of fur.
We will rock you, rock you, rock you…
Softly sleep now, safe and warm,
Nestled in our loving arms.
~translation adapted by S. Kirchner
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.