French-Canadian publishing company The Secret Mountain publishes children's books that pair stories with CDs of specially recorded and carefully curated music — everything from folk to lullabies to various world musics. A great deal of classical repertoire has made it onto those discs, the latest of which is Sleep Softly, a book/CD of classical lullabies performed by French chamber music group L'Ensemble Agora, released last month.
David Pastor (Agora's French horn player and one of its founding members) and Sergio Menozzi (the composer/arranger in charge of the repertoire for the Sleep Softly CD), answered a few of our questions about the music, and about lullabies in general, via e-mail. Their answers were translated from French to English by Roland Stringer of The Secret Mountain.
Several of the pieces included on this CD feature ternary rhythms (this quality is noted in the book as well); why do you think three-part rhythmic underpinning lends itself so well to lullabies?
Sergio Menozzi: It's true that ternary rhythms lend themselves to the gentle rocking that is required in interpreting a lullaby. It's not necessarily the number of beats per measure but rather the division of each beat into three parts that counts. For example, a measure in 6/8, even if it has two beats, still portrays this division of each beat by three. The swaying of a waltz is really what creates the calm rocking, "softer" effect, more so than the binary.
How were the pieces included on the CD chosen?
David Pastor: We initially chose around 40 works from various composers, for the most part from the Romantic era. That period seems to have spawned the greatest number of lullabies. Actually, the CD doesn't focus strictly on lullabies. We selected romances, adagios, slow movements that are dreamlike, along with compositions that were named "lullaby," "berceuse," or "wiegenlied."
How do you think the lullabies included in this collection interact with Elodie Nouhen's illustrations?
David Pastor: I love Elodie Nouhen's illustrations and the way in which they interact with the music. Strings of wool, the weaving of the hair, all of those different fabrics that come together to form a canvas...I really like the way it creates a dreamlike world for the reader and listener. And what about those roses that jump out at you with petals that fly off into some kind dreamland, evoking the lightness of the music! We can almost smell them and are dazzled by their fragrance (the words to Brahm's Wiegenlied specifically mention carnations and roses, by the way).
Also, although there are many soft dreamlike illustrations, you'll also note that some of them are somewhat unsettling: characters that are half-human, half-animal, with oversized heads or huge legs, and appear to come out of some kind of nightmare...the world of sleep is a strange one, and our lullabies are not always serene!
What qualities make a piece of music suitable as a lullaby?
Sergio Menozzi: The pieces selected are from major works by important composers. That in itself makes each selection remarkable. In general, a lullaby must soothe and comfort the listener, give him a sense that everything will be fine.
What are the special challenges of interpreting lullabies?
David Pastor: We excluded lullabies with lyrics, which allowed us to focus completely on the music. That's why we invited a composer (Sergio Menozzi) and not an arranger to join us. It allowed us to rethink each piece, aiming for a different aesthetic so that we could offer a new way of listening to the piece. After receiving Sergio's charts, we concentrated on grasping the spirit of each orchestration: Brahms's Sandmandchen, for instance, was a lot of work. Each musician had to make an effort to stay on cue and paid special attention to pitch since the notes fly about the instruments like a ray of light coming through a prism and immediately creating a kind of music box effect. Other pieces, like Schubert's Gute nacht, demanded that we adjust the tempo so that the spirit of the lullaby wouldn't overshadow the theme of obstination and wandering.
What are your other favorite pieces of classical music for children?
David Pastor: I enjoy playing symphonic poems for my children: The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Night on Bald Mountain, or even L'Arlesienne. They also love opera since we tell a story and have music that expresses the characters' feelings. The story is very important for my children...for me, too!
Disney's Fantasia is amazing! Both productions have made a real impression on me and I can't help myself from seeing the images from the movies when I play the pieces live: Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Stravinsky's The Firebird, and Respighi's Pines of Rome. They all work terribly well! Respighi imagined a final movement with the marching of a triumphant Roman legion and Disney created a fantastic ballet with flying whales...I love it!
Several of the pieces included on the CD have narratives evoking tragedy or darkness. Why do you think so many composers have turned to gentle music to underpin such fraught narrative moments?
David Pastor: It's true that you'll often find a text that goes with music that conjures up dark or wild emotions while evoking a sense of calm and serenity. During the Romantic period, you're on the edge. Sleep (and the lullaby) is likened to death. The sleeping friend's face suggests that death is on the horizon, that it will seal the love for him:
No! The pure light that's glowing/ Upon your brow divine/ Will surely not be going/ But will again tomorrow shine
The Romantic artist takes his feelings of love to another level by combining melancholy and passion, eternal love and death's quietude.
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