Mother's Lullaby

Coventry Carol is an English Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. I've always loved the timeless quality of this carol and its use of a picardy third to shift the music between major and minor. It also lends well to a string sound world by offering different voicings and coloration through the repetition of the verses. My retitling of the carol to Mother's Lullaby refers to the original text, which takes the form of a lullaby sung by mothers of the doomed children under Herod's Massacre of the Innocents from the Christmas story.

-Anna Clyne