Papa's Lullaby

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
This unique collection of authentic lullabies from around the world celebrates the universal quality of a father’s love.

Superb artistry on classical guitar, wooden flutes, thumb piano, mandolin, cello, and more accompanied by tender voices of loving fathers will ease your little ones to sleep.

The sun sleeps, the stars sleep, And the moon yawns. From behind the little cloud It whispers to the star "Sleep my darling child"

Includes lullabies from Brazil, Italy, Puerto Rico, France, Denmark, Greece, Argentina, Zimbabwe, Russia, Sicily, the United States, Venezuela, Ukraine, India, and Spain.

The notes include original lyrics and English translations.

Tracks:

The Waking
Root Cellar
My Papa's Waltz
I Strolled Across An Open Field
Memory
Orchids
The Serpent
Night Crow
Snake
Lilltel Elegy
The Nightingale
Nantucket
Lullaby Of The Woman Of The Mountain
Love In A Life
What If Some Little Pain...
Visits To St. Elizabeth's
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Spring
See How They Love Me
Now Sleeps The Crimson Petal
I Am Rose
Ask Me No More
Far-Far-Away
Early In The Morning
Alleluia
Such Beauty As Hurts To Behold
Sally's Smile
Youth, Day, Old Age, And Night
O You Whom I Often And Silently Come
Full Of Life Now
As Adam Early In The Morning
Are You The New Person?

Customer Reviews:

Great vocal virtuosity.......2005-04-07

This is a great recording, by two great artists. Carole Farley is the ideal singer for Ned Rorem's songs. She spell out every
word and every nuance, giving each song and every poem their full character. The songs are a revelation. I recommend this recording without hesitation.
Christoph (Berlin, Germany)

Confuzzled.......2004-01-03

While these song are GREAT...I cannot get over Carole Farley; her voice is so affected (kind of like a sprechstimme; overly dramatic...). I love the fact that Rorem himself is playing the piano, and as a singer, the catalogue of songs is good to have...but cant say I could ever manage getting over Farley's affectation. There are far superior recordings out there.

An American Composer of Art Song.......2003-04-02

This disc features 32 of Ned Rorem's songs for voice and piano. Soprano Carole Farley is the accomplished singer, and Ned Rorem himself plays the piano. The disc is special because it features settings of the works of American poets. The CD begins with 9 settings of poems by the mid-twentieth century poet, Theodore Roethke, and concludes with settings of 5 poems by Walt Whitman. The disc also includes settings of poems by William Carlos Williams, Gertrude Stein, and Paul Goodman, among others. Thus the disc combines in a special way American creative effort in poetry and in music.

Rorem's songs are declamatory in style. Typically, the voice line delivers the text of the poetry in a sort of chant. The relationship between the voice line and the piano is far from Schubertian. Generally, the piano takes a separate line and accentuates the voice by means of large chords or by runs or by other comments and punctuation on the voice. The texts are well set and the music is effective. There are some unusual harmonies with jazz and blues influences. Rorem's piano accompanyment on this disc gives the recording a sense of authenticity -- we get a good idea of how the composer wants his songs to be conveyed.

The disc includes excellent program notes and texts of all the songs. Naxos has received deservedly high praise for its "American Classics" series which makes much music written by Americans available on CD at a low price. This disc includes some lovely, little-known songs. It is an excellent introduction to the American art song and to the music of Ned Rorem.

more German than Rorem.......2002-07-20

I've been a Rorem fan since hearing a highschool friend perform some of his work in her college recital. His startling, atonal songs were an instant revelation. For years there were few reliable CDs of his vocal work. A scandal considering his reputation rests more on his art songs and chamber music than on his orchestral pieces. This Naxos entry of a wide overview of his best songs is thus quite welcome, due largely to its availability, wide distribution and professional packaging (he's had some shoddy issues before with incorrect liner notes, etc.; the challenge of the low budget).

I can't call myself an unalloyed fan of soprano Carole Farley however. Her delivery here recalls the speak-singing style of German 12-tone composers (a specialty of hers), and can sound melodramatic, especially when she rushes the more delicate passages.

I prefer Rorem's softer, more melodious French side, the one that descends from Impressionism and is more warmly emotive. While Farley loses the shading of some of the more fragile songs, she is well-suited to the longer, more forceful pieces. I've heard many readings of "Early in the Morning" (one of Rorems most popular songs) by male and female vocalists, and its tale of wistful nostalgia is muted by Farley's direct approach. However, she nails "My Papa's Waltz," a fractured setting for a Roethke poem about a frightened child forced to dance with a drunken father. Here her acting skills come to the fore, and she perfectly captures the tipsy madness of the song. Rorem can be quite theatrical himself on occasion. She does almost as well with "See How they love me," a ballad with a regular pace that allows her assertive style to breathe.

At any rate it's great to hear these lovely songs in a recent (2000) recording, accompanied (rather emphatically, but perhaps he's matching his theatrical singer) by Rorem himself.

The similar Susan Graham album is more to my taste, but this is a more than competent bargain set.

delightful art songs.......2002-01-02

rorem's songs are amazing, and naxos has done well
to group them by poet. the complete settings of roethke
are particularly compelling and edgey.

carole farley's voice is lovely, but her phrasing
and willingness to push her voice seems
a big departure from the styling of art songs i've
heard by poulenc and somers.

this takes some getting used to- at least 3 or 4 complete
listen-throughs in my case. her voice is almost jazzy,
kind of like early recordings by holly cole.

anyway, rorem accompanies her on piano so obviously
this reading fits with his intent; his playing is also delightful.

Tracks:

Piccolo Girasole - Eugene Ruffolo
Cancion Para Dormir Una Muneca - Bernardo Palombo
Stille, Hjerte, Sol Gaar Ned - The Nikolaj Hess Trio/Bobo Moreno
Estrella De Mi Vida - Cesar Berlanga
Sone Prehodyet Na Parog - Joseph Deninzon/Yakov Yavno
Duermete Mi Nino - Raul Midon/Leo Quintero
Puchi's Lullaby - Sammy Figueroa
Meu Boi Da Cara Preta - Paulo Freire/Ze Esmerindo
Mon Ch'tit, Vrai D'rien - Olivier Marcaud
Lori - G.S. Sachdev
La Vo' - John La Barbera
Shepherd's Lullaby - Andriy Milavsky
Nanourisma - Ricardo Cobo & Dimitri Rodis
Chinyarara Gotwe Rangu - Forward Kwenda
Lullaby For Erin - David Darling

Album Description

This unique collection of authentic lullabies from around the world celebrates the universal quality of a father's love.

Superb artistry on classical guitar, wooden flutes, thumb piano, mandolin, cello, and more accompanied by tender voices of loving fathers will ease your little ones to sleep.

The sun sleeps, the stars sleep, And the moon yawns. From behind the little cloud It whispers to the star "Sleep my darling child"

Includes lullabies from Brazil, Italy, Puerto Rico, France, Denmark, Greece, Argentina, Zimbabwe, Russia, Sicily, the United States, Venezuela, Ukraine, India, and Spain.

The notes include original lyrics and English translations.

Customer Reviews:

What a production!.......2003-01-27

At first I thought it was unusual for men to be singing lullabys. However, like all of the Ellipsis Arts Lullaby CD's this one is outstanding!! The tracks are from all over the world, including Italy, Denmark, Greece, Sicily and Argentina. What a production!!

So beautiful.......2002-09-22

This CD was a shower gift and it is so special to us. I play it for our son every time he goes down to sleep. The insert contains the lyrics in both the native languages and English. I can't get through reading the words to the opening track, Piccolo Girasol, without losing it. It makes you really understand how universal a father's love is for his children. I can't wait to hear Mama's Lullaby. I'm sure it's as touching as this sweet CD. It's also nice to know that your children are listening to sounds in other languages, which can only help their language development.

the BEST fathers day present...sleep!.......2001-06-18

i have nearly all of the lullaby cd's from ellipsis arts and can't recommend them highly enough. however this was a special fathers day present from me to my son, and i (er...we!) love it! all the songs carry the weight of the love of a father like a wonderful down comforter ready to wrap your child up and send them confidently and peacefully to sleep. do i have a favorite...yes, every track! the whole cd is truly an excellent buy.

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