The impulse for the piece came from Salome Kammer. In 2003 I wrote a solo voice piece for her titled Emil, whose musical material was based on recordings of a baby babbling, which I had transcribed. Salome Kammer suggested that I write an orchestra version of this piece as a part of a program featuring lullabies. It is a continual source of fascination for me how violently babies resist going to sleep (the “brother of death”). They desperately want to stay awake absorbing everything, so they don’t miss anything interesting that might be happening around them. Sleeping is one of my favorite activities and I’m always surprised that on this matter, children apparently have such a different opinion.

Carola Bauckholt