Berceuse in D‑Flat Major

Op. 57, B. 154

A berceuse is a lullaby, and there is no finer example than Chopin’s. It was composed in 1844, during the composer’s final decade (although he was still only 34), when he embraced new genres and their novel expressive possibilities. Chopin’s Berceuse is unique in his output, a set of variants on a simple four-measure theme where each unfolds over the same gently rocking accompanying pattern, alternating between the tonic D-flat major and its dominant A-flat. (Chopin’s original title was, aptly enough, Variantes.) Harmonically, the music does nothing else until the closing measures, while dynamically it remains firmly within its quiet confines. The shape of the music is governed entirely by its development of texture and sonority—something that later influenced Debussy—and the increasingly elaborate decoration remains divorced from traditional means of musical argument. This fusion of rigid repetition and extravagant ornamentation defines Chopin’s Berceuse as one of the most distinctive piano works from the 19th century.

Related Works

Get the App Built for Classical
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada