Description
John Cheshire Cradle Song
Also known as Lullaby in D-flat major for harp or piano
Compositions by the English harpist John Cheshire’s are strewn through all the historical, personally bound collections of sheet music from the 19th to the early20th centuries kept in my archives. Nonetheless, because his music was on the lighter side, it seems that these pieces were ignored and never included in the teaching repertoire. This accidental neglect has now been remedied. I wish to share with you the pleasures of those little gems that ooze charm and showcase all the enchanting techniques harpists relied upon during la belle époque. Each piece brings a different character into play. All of them would be well received by the public in various performance situations. They were published either in England (around 1902), or posthumously in the United States in 1912.
Cradle Song
Cheshire’s Cradle Song, also named Lullaby in Db, is a study in delicate musicianship, with a melody floating over pillows of fairy dust exhaled by slow rolls and arpeggios. The composer allowed himself to be secretly ambitious with this piece published in London, as it brings to mind other famous Berceuses by Chopin and Liszt in the same key.
As in Ariel’s Song, the see-saw hand pattern dominates, but in a more complex way, since the accompaniment must be played mostly like a slower roll. On page 4, descending arpeggios come to the fore, heating up the musical discourse as bit. After reaching its climax on the highest note Ab, the flow of the piece calms down gradually, cadencing in chords and arpeggios before ending in extended chordal glissandos celebrating the key of Db Major.
