Updated date:

Apr 20, 2020

Classical Vocal and Piano Music About Mothers and Motherhood

Author:: Linda Crampton

Linda Crampton has loved music since childhood. She plays the piano and recorder, sings, and listens to classical, folk, and early music.

Appreciation for a mother
KateCox, via pixabay.com, CC0 public domain license

A Celebration of Motherhood

Music in celebration or remembrance of mothers can be powerful as well as enjoyable. For many of us, the bond between mother and child is both strong and precious. Some classical music composers have created memorable music based on this bond.

Although some of the compositions mentioned below refer to sad events, they all honor the link between a mother and her child. The pieces would probably create a moving and enjoyable Mother's Day playlist for someone who likes classical music. They may be greatly appreciated by both moms and by people who are thinking of their mother on Mother's Day or at any other time of the year.

I am familiar with two versions of Mother's Day. In North America, the celebration is held on the second Sunday in May. In the UK, Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday in Lent. This day is often known as Mother's Day, like the North American event. The events had different origins, but they both honour mothers.

An 1882 photo of Antonin Dvorak
Unknown photographer, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain license

Songs My Mother Taught Me: Antonin Dvořák

"Songs My Mother Taught Me" was written in 1880 by Antonin Dvořák, a Czech composer who lived from 1841 to 1904. I know him best for his Symphony No. 9, often referred to as the New World Symphony, and for his Slavonic Dances. My father frequently played records of these pieces as I grew up.

"Songs My Mother Taught Me" is song number four in a cycle entitled Gypsy Songs. The lyrics of the seven songs in the cycle come from poems written by Adolf Heyduk, a Czech writer. The ones in song four describe the poet's memories of the songs learned from his mother. The woman seems to have had an unhappy life because she often cried. Now the poet is teaching his children the songs in loving memory of his mother and frequently cries himself as he does so.

The song is very popular today and is often sung by a soprano, although tenors perform the piece as well. In the video below, Anna Netrebko sings the song. She's an operatic soprano with dual Russian and Austrian citizenship. As many singers do, in her performance she displays the love that is mixed with sadness in the poet's memories of his mother.

The renditions of the compositions described in this article are ones that I and many other people enjoy. The pieces are performed by other artists as well, however.

Edvard Grieg in 1888
Joseph Elliot and Clarence Fry, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain license

A Mother's Grief: Edvard Grieg

Edward Grieg (1843-1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He may be best known for his Peer Gynt suites. These began their life as incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play of the same name. Grieg created many other compositions during his lifetime.

"A Mother's Grief" is sometimes said to have been written to express the grief of Grieg and his wife Nina after the death of their daughter Alexandra. Nina was both a pianist and a singer. Alexandra was the couple's only child. She died of meningitis in 1869 when she was just over a year old.

The song does express sadness at the death of a child. It seems unlikely that it's describing Alexandra's death, however, since it was first published in 1868 and refers to a boy's death. It's sad that a presumably fictional death was soon followed by a real-life one in Grieg's family.

The composition was originally created as a vocal piece with a piano accompaniment. Grieg later transcribed "A Mother's Grief" and other songs for the piano. By then Alexandra had died. The piano version of the song is played in the video below. The pianist is Håvard Gimse.

Muttertändelei: Richard Strauss

In contrast to the sadness of the Grieg piano piece, "Muttertändelei", or Mother Chatter, is a lighthearted composition performed by a singer with a jaunty piano accompaniment. In each verse, a mother proudly praises the features of her son and expresses her delight that the boy is her child and not someone else's. The music was written by Richard Strauss and the lyrics by Gottfried August Bürger.

Richard Strauss was a German composer who lived from 1864 to 1949. He's known today for his operas, tone poems, and songs. His wife Pauline was an opera singer. She had a reputation for being very outspoken and a little eccentric, but she and Richard seem to have had a happy marriage. They had one child. Pauline Strauss apparently liked the mother chatter song so much that she refused to give the score to another singer.

Edith Wiens sings the song in the video below. She's a Canadian soprano who has had an illustrious performance career in both lieder and opera. She currently teaches voice at the Juilliard School of music.

Just look at my pretty child!
With his golden tassels of hair,
Blue eyes, red cheeks!
Well folks, do you have such a child? –
No, folks, you don’t!

— Oxford Leider (First verse of Muttertändelei)

A German Requiem: Johannes Brahms

A requiem is a musical composition in honor of someone who has died. In the Catholic church, it's the name of a special mass for the dead. Researchers believe that the person whose death stimulated the creation of Brahm's requiem—or at least its modification from an earlier, unfinished version—was his mother.

Johannes Brahms lived from 1833 to 1897. His mother died in February, 1865. It's known that her death affected her son deeply. He started (or restarted) working on the requiem shortly after the event. He apparently never admitted the connection between the loss of his mother and the music, however.

The earlier death of Robert Schumann in 1856 is also thought to have had a big effect on Brahms. The older man acted as a mentor for him with respect to musical matters. Brahms frequently sought his advice and was helped by both Robert and his wife Clara. The requiem may have been created in memory of both Schumann and Brahms' mother.

The Music of the Requiem

The full title of the requiem is "A German Requiem, to Words of the Holy Scriptures". The word "German" in the title was meant to indicate that the requiem is written in the language of the local people instead of in Latin. The composition is scored for a choir, a soprano soloist, a baritone soloist, and an orchestra.

The recording below is quite an old one. I chose it for the wonderful sound of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's voice. She's a New Zealand singer who has won many awards. "Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit" is a famous section of the requiem that is sung by the soprano. The lyrics say that despite the sorrow of the person she is addressing, the singer will see them again. The soprano role is sometimes thought to symbolize Brahms' mother.

Robert Schumann at the age of 29
Josef Kriehuber, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain license

An Meinen Herzen, An Meiner Brust: Robert Schumann

"Frauen-Liebe und Lieben", or "A Woman's Love and Life", is based on a cycle of poems written by Adelbert von Chamisso. The poems and the songs describe a women's life as she meets a man, marries him, has a child, and eventually loses her husband to death.

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) set the poems in music in 1840. In the song below, the woman expresses her love for the baby that she is holding close to her heart and is nursing. My favourite rendition of the song on YouTube is the one by Edith Wiens, which is shown below. The photos in the video are the same as in the previous Edith Wiens video, but the most important part—the music—is different.

Lullaby: Johannes Brahms

The full name of this very popular tune is "Lullaby: Good Evening, Good Night". It's sometimes known as the cradle song. It has been sung to many babies in many different countries. Today multiple versions of the lyrics exist. In the original version, Brahms used lyrics that he obtained from a book of German folk poems. This version starts with the line "Guten Abend, gute Nacht". The traditional English version starts with "Lullaby and Good Night".

Brahms created the lullaby for his friend Bertha Faber, who was a choral singer. He had developed a friendship with her earlier, but by the time he wrote the lullaby she was married to someone else. The song was composed in 1868 to celebrate the birth of Faber's second child. The performer in the video below is a pianist known as CalikoKat.

The following video contains an orchestral version of the lullaby. An orchestral version of the song is not as inauthentic as it might seem. Brahms himself used a variation of the tune in one of his orchestral works.

The Value of Musical Gifts

Giving a gift of suitable music in the form of a playlist can be a very meaningful way to honor a mother. Listening to appropriate music can be a wonderful way to celebrate motherhood or another occasion. Music is a great art form that has many benefits, including its significant role in special events. It can also be a very enjoyable art for both musicians and listeners.

References

Facts about Antonin Dvořák from Classic FM
A biography of the composer from the Edvard Grieg Museum in Norway
Muttertändelei lyrics from Oxford Leider
Facts about Richard Strauss from Classic FM
Facts about Johannes Brahms from The Kennedy Center (the home of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera)
The life and music of Robert Schumann from NPR (National Public Radio)
Information about Brahm's Lullaby from Songfacts (a song database)

Comments

Linda Crampton (author) from British Columbia, Canada on June 05, 2018:

Thanks for the kind comment, Vellur. I appreciate your visit.

Nithya Venkat from Dubai on June 05, 2018:

A wonderful celebration of music and motherhood. You should record a piece and put it here so that we all can listen. I would love to hear you play.

Linda Crampton (author) from British Columbia, Canada on May 18, 2018:

Thank you so much, Chitrangada. It's interesting to hear that you play the sitar. I love the sound of the instrument. Creating and listening to music are very enjoyable activities.

Chitrangada Sharan from New Delhi, India on May 18, 2018:

Beautiful post and Congratulations!

Combination of music and Mother’s Day is a great idea. Your article is informative as well as entertaining. I liked the videos and the information you shared.

I love classical music, whether Indian or Western. It’s good to know, that you sing and play Piano, one of my favourite musical instrument. I can play Sitar and Guitar, and I really enjoy doing so. While I have taken lessons for them, I enjoy singing too. Music is a wonderful healer, and brings us close to God.

Thanks for sharing!

Linda Crampton (author) from British Columbia, Canada on May 15, 2018:

I appreciate your comment very much, Devika.

DDE on May 15, 2018:

You created a beautiful hub! A unique way of improving our knowledge on such topics.

Linda Crampton (author) from British Columbia, Canada on May 14, 2018:

Thanks for the visit, Christine. The pieces that you mention are lovely choices.

Linda Crampton (author) from British Columbia, Canada on May 14, 2018:

Thank you for the comment, Liz. The lullaby seems to have spread far and wide!

Christine Mulberry on May 14, 2018:

I'll have to add this to my Sunday morning playlist. The German Requiem and orchestral Lullaby were my personal favorites.

Liz Westwood from UK on May 13, 2018:

This is a very original and interesting article. The UK is a little out of synch with you, as our Mothers' Day is in March. The Brahms lullaby is very familiar as, in my children's generation, it played on a lot of cot mobiles and wind up baby toys.

Linda Crampton (author) from British Columbia, Canada on May 13, 2018:

Thank you very much, Thelma! I hope you're having a happy Mother's Day, too.

Thelma Alberts from Germany and Philippines on May 13, 2018:

Wow! They are all beautiful music. Happy Mothers´ Day. Congratulations for winning the contest. Well done!

Linda Crampton (author) from British Columbia, Canada on May 13, 2018:

Thank you, Manatita. I hope you have a happy Mothering Sunday, too.

manatita44 from london on May 12, 2018:

All very lovely and professionally done. The Mother's Grief is very touching and appropriate to the piece. I like Brahms lightness and sweetness and the Dame's voice.

Happy Mothering Sunday.

Linda Crampton (author) from British Columbia, Canada on May 12, 2018:

I appreciate your comment very much, Dora. I think that sad stories and songs can be appealing, too. They can sometimes be beautiful.

Dora Weithers from The Caribbean on May 12, 2018:

Informative and entertaining! The stories, even the sad ones, are appealing. Thanks for sharing this beautiful article. I intend to came back and listen.

Linda Crampton (author) from British Columbia, Canada on May 12, 2018:

Thank you very much, Flourish. The stories behind songs and other forms of music are often very interesting. I enjoy learning about them.

FlourishAnyway from USA on May 12, 2018:

I liked learning the stories behind these favorites. The Dvořák story was particularly sad with the crying. It makes me wonder more about why she was so despondent.

Congratulations! You did a marvelous job!

Linda Crampton (author) from British Columbia, Canada on May 12, 2018:

Thank you very much, RTalloni. Your plan for celebrating Mother's Day sounds lovely. I hope you have a very happy Sunday.

RTalloni on May 11, 2018:

What a lovely idea for this post. Well done and congratulations! So enjoyed the orchestral version of Brahms' lullabyI believe that on Mother's Day I will listen to my daughter's university voice recital. Thank you!