Benjamin Britten's vision on the Lullaby in „A Charm of Lullabies”

Abstract

His childhood experience is a source of inspiration for Benjamin Britten’s cycle of songs A Charm of Lullabies. Concerned with discovering national musical and poetic treasures, he selected five poems from representative authors, from the Renaissance to Romanticism – William Blake, Robert Burns, Robert Green, Thomas Randolph, John Philip – interesting for the audience to be set to music. The songs illustrate the bedtime routine when an adult expresses profound feelings of love and care for his child. The themes chosen present various moods and the performers should portray an authentic nighttime atmosphere, full of charm, using technical and artistic means of expression.