Lost In Lullabies

From Rock-a-bye Baby to Brahms to AI…Has the lullaby become a lost art?

Matt Edmonds is trying to sing his child to sleep. It’s not working. As his baritone produces My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean for the 19th time and his toddler says 'Dada, stop!’, he drifts into a parallel reality. Could AI do bedtime for him? Surely it would be simpler? And he would be spared lying on the floor of his child’s bedroom.

What is a lullaby? What gives it its magic? The tune? The words? The rhythm? The very act of delivery? In this programme, we join Matt Edmonds - writer, musician and father - as he falls down a rabbit hole, chasing the lost art of the lullaby. In this dreamy, musical 'sleeper hit', Matt encounters people with stories that explore the power of the lullaby.

During Lullaby Hour at a neonatal unit, Matt hears first-hand the impact live lullabies have on premature babies. He talks to Roxana Vilk, whose lullabies project gathers songs from all over the world, to see if she can help. And he meets his friends, musicians Johnny and Lillie Flynn, to hear what musical tricks they use to compose and sing lullabies.

Full of fresh wisdom, Matt returns to his child’s bedside, his baritone hoarse and sleep-deprived, to test if the ancient art of the lullaby still has legs.

This programme is richly designed with a soundscape woven from recordings of Matt’s own attempts at lullabies, the sounds of the locations he visits, and music from Matt, Mica Bernard, Bex Ashford and from Johnny and Lillie Flynn.

Presenter: Matt Edmonds Producer: Jenny Dare Executive Producers: Shannon Delwiche, Chris Jones and Guy Natanel

With special thanks to Dr Aniko Deierl and Irena Meza for their contributions

A Sound & Bones production for BBC Radio 4.