“Children’s chamber music”: lullabies, fairytales, songs

An evening of lullabies and fairytales written in German, French, English and Russian, set to music by composers Brahms, Mussorgsky, Britten, Poulenc and Szymanowski.

The Children’s chamber music: lullabies, fairytales, songs presents musical narratives about childhood innocence, seen through the eyes of the adults. The Children's Room by Modest Mussorgsky is a set of songs based on texts written by himself, starring a little girl and a little boy narrating the adventures of everyday life. Mussorgsky, who wrote music based on rhythmic patterns of speech, attempts to express the feelings and the ideas of a child. The 15 Popular Children's Songs by Johannes Brahms, of which four are heard tonight, is a collection dedicated to the children of Robert and Clara Schumann with whom he was close friends. The Lyrical Pieces of Edvard Grieg are part of a collection of 66 short pieces for solo piano. Themed after the Norwegian folk tradition, particularly melodic and vibrant they are the typical childrens’ songs. A collection of lullabies by Benjamin Britten comprises songs based on poems that were written in different times and in quite different styles. In some of them, Britten’s music further explores the traditional concept of lullaby. Four songs for children is written by Francis Poulenc in 1934 on the humorous texts of Jean Nohain (known as Jaboune), who was a famous presenter and editor of the Parisian scene of the time. To whom these songs are addressed? Is it to minors or adults? to children or infants? It remains a secret, only to be answered by each one of us.