Guten Abend, gute Nacht, 
Mit Rosen bedacht,
Mit Näglein besteckt,
Schlupf' unter die Deck,
Morgen früh, wenns Gott will,
Wirst du wieder geweckt.

Text Authorship:

• from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Gute Nacht, mein Kind!", appears in Des Knaben Wunderhorn, first published 1808

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Confirmed with Achim von Arnim und Clemens Brentano, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Band 3, Stuttgart, 1979, page 304.

Note provided by Laura Prichard: Brahms gentle Wiegenlied, op. 49, no. 4, was dedicated to his youthful [girl]friend, Bertha Faber, née Porubsky. Although it was composed to celebrate the birth of her second son, it may contain a touching, bittersweet farewell to Bertha herself, who became a regular alto chorister in the women’s choir Brahms conducted in Hamburg before her marriage. Bertha and the twenty-six-year-old Brahms exchanged many letters, and he was a frequent [chaperoned] dinner guest in her home in 1859. This cradle song’s famous melody was intended to act as a harmony part to the Austrian duet "S’Is Anderscht" (1842) by Alexander Baumann (1814-1857), which Johannes and Bertha sang together in her family parlour. Baumann’s melody is preserved in the piano introduction: its original text is "Du moanst wol di Liab last si zwinga" [Do you think that love can be forced], and continues "Zatrist wo a Bleamle, steht’s nimmermer auf" [if you trample a flower it’ll never rise again]. Brahms sent the published lullaby to Bertha’s husband in Vienna, confessing "Frau Bertha will realize that I wrote the Wiegenlied for her little one. She will find it quite in order that while she is singing Hans to sleep, a love song is being sung to her."

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Guten Abend, gut' Nacht,
Von Englein bewacht.
Die zeigen im Traum
Dir Christkindleins Baum
Schlaf nun selig und süß, 
Schau im Traum's Paradies.

Text Authorship:

• by Georg Scherer (1824 - 1909), written 1849

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Buonasera, buonanotte, 
coperto di rose, 
trapunto di garofani, 
scivola sotto le coperte: 
domani mattina, se Dio vuole, 
ti sveglierai.

Buonasera, buonanotte, 
vegliato dagli angioletti 
che ti mostrano in sogno 
l'albero di Natale: 
dormi ora beato, dolcemente, 
vedi in sogno il paradiso.