Sharing World Music: Lesson 16: Lullabies

Lullabies are the first music we hear, and often the melodies most dear to our hearts. They are sung to children all over the world, but what is sung about can be very different from song to song, from place to place.

We have a young student who has recently arrived from Japan, and I wanted to make her language visible in the classroom. One of my goals is to use music class to connect the children to their community. I chose a traditional Japanese lullaby from Takeda (竹田の子守唄), which is near Kyoto. The YouTube link is to another recording I found that was lovely, , by the group "The Red Birds", but not available for purchase in digital music form.

Akiko Kozato and Walter Lupi

Takeda Castle ruins, sometimes called the "Castle in the Sky"

The recording I found was voice and guitar- a Japanese classical vocalist, Akiko Kozato, and Walter Lupi, an Italian guitarist. The song is sung from the perspective of a young girl who has to work as a babysitter and cannot be with her family to celebrate the holidays.

Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto

schoolchildren in Kyoto, Japan

The second lullaby, A La Nanita Nana, is also sung as a Christmas Carol in much of the world. Again, the recording is voice and guitar- an Ecuadorean singer, Maritza Cedeño, who now lives in the United States.

Maritza Cedeño

There is some confusion as to the song's origins. Many sources in Ecuador believe it to be by Segundo Cueva Celi (1901-1969), an Ecuadorean composer. The first edition published was by the Spanish composer José Ramón Gomis, with lyrics by Juan Francisco Muñoz y Pabón. Considering this was published in 1904, it is more likely to be of Spanish origin.