Sheet Music: Rocking the Cradle

TitleRocking the Cradle
Alternate titlesRocking a baby that's none of my own
ComposerTraditional Irish
InstrumentationFlute solo
KeyD major
RangeD4–F#5
Time signature6/8
Tempo40 BPM
Performance time0:50
Difficulty leveleasy
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (46 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (401 kB)
Date added2020-02-05
Last updated2020-02-05
Download popularity index☆☆☆☆☆ 0.8 (average)
Categories
Slow airs, Traditional/Folk

Performances

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Wednesday 5 February 2020

Tune of the Day: Rocking the Cradle

Traditional Irish air

Tune collector Francis O'Neill found that this song and air had been almost entirely forgotten in Ireland. The version he printed in his Music of Ireland (1903) was taken from an American publication of c. 1850, though he found a “fair version” in Smith's Irish Minstrel (Edinburgh, 1825). Paul de Grae remarks that O'Neill's “American” setting is likely drawn from J.T. Surenne's 1854 song setting called “I sat in the vale”, for which “Rocking the Cradle” is the indicated air.