New Generation Thinkers: How Lullabies Work

Oskar Jensen recently became a father, which rather raised the stakes of his previously academic interest in lullabies. With a noisy boy to get to sleep, he has turned from historian to (lamentably amateur) practitioner. In search of whatever it is that has made lullabies work over the centuries, he explores the history, the music, and the ongoing uses of these deceptively simple songs, from their earliest incarnations in eighteenth-century cheap print, to their travels across the world. His song of choice is Hush-a-Bye Baby.

Oskar is joined by academics Julia Partington, an expert on music education, especially in infancy; Vic Gammon, a researcher and musician who has published prolifically on the history of vernacular song; and Nancy Kerr - singer, songwriter, fiddler, and lecturer in folk music at Newcastle University. In fact, all four involved in the programme sing... and probably will.

Presenter: Oskar Jensen
Producer: Julian May