Wiegenlied
One of the most famous lullabies in the Western classical repertoire, and a useful early example of German Lied for singers. Brahms composed the lullaby in 1868 and dedicated it to his friend Bertha Faber on the birth of her second son. Despite its apparent simplicity, the first verse contains many of the core features of German diction.
Line-by-line IPA
Guten Abend, gut Nacht,
[ˈɡuː.tən ˈaː.bənt | ɡuːt naxt]
Mit Rosen bedacht,
[mɪt ˈɾoː.zən bəˈdaxt]
Mit Näglein bestäckt,
[mɪt ˈnɛː.ɡlaɪ̯n bəˈʃtɛkt]
Schlupf unter die Deck’.
[ʃlʊpf ˈʊn.tɐ diː dɛk]
Morgen früh, wenn Gott will,
[ˈmɔɐ̯.ɡən fɾyː | vɛn ɡɔt vɪl]
Wirst du wieder geweckt.
[vɪɐ̯st duː ˈviː.dɐ ɡəˈvɛkt]
English translation
Good evening, good night, adorned with roses, decked with carnations, slip under the covers. Tomorrow morning, if God wills it, you will be woken again.
Diction notes
- Abend – /ˈaː.bənt/. The d at the end of the second syllable devoices to /t/. The a in the first syllable is long /aː/. The same final devoicing applies to und /ʊnt/, Wirst /vɪɐ̯st/, and geweckt /ɡəˈvɛkt/ throughout the song.
- Nacht / bedacht – /naxt/, /bəˈdaxt/. Both have the ach-Laut /x/ after the back vowel /a/. Do not substitute /k/ or /ʃ/.
- bestäckt – /bəˈʃtɛkt/. The st in be-stäckt is syllable-initial (after the prefix be-), so it is /ʃt/.
- früh – /fɾyː/. The ü is the front-rounded /yː/. The h is silent but marks the vowel as long. Substituting /uː/ changes the word to something that does not exist.
- wenn / will / wieder – German w is always /v/: /vɛn/, /vɪl/, /ˈviː.dɐ/. Never the English bilabial /w/.
- Morgen / unter / wieder – coda r and the -er suffix vocalise: /ˈmɔɐ̯.ɡən/, /ˈʊn.tɐ/, /ˈviː.dɐ/. No English rhotic quality.
- Schlupf – /ʃlʊpf/. The German affricate pf — both the /p/ and the /f/ are sounded, quickly. Do not reduce to /f/ alone.