Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
Vocal Music | Piano | Organ | Chamber Music | Orchestral | Articles and Commentary | Poems and Stories | Miscellany | FAQs
Lullaby - (2008)
Paul Laurence Dunbar
for medium voice and piano
Sing me, sweet, a soothing psalm,
Holy, tender, low, and calm,
Full of drowsy words and dreamy,
Sleep half seen where the sides are seamy;
Lay my head upon your breast;
Sing me to rest.[ 2 pages, circa 1' 45" ]
Paul Laurence Dunbar
This simple text is set for the lower tessitura of most voices, and is intended to be sung softly and sweetly, with affect.
The piano accompaniment is a gathering of lingering triads, one against another in the upper range of the piano. Blurred with pedal, it should recall a music box. The lazy triplet in the vocal line should seem to lightly hold back the duple meter underlying it.
The score for Lullaby is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this piano-vocal score.
