蜜芽传媒

From Babylonia to Brahms to AI鈥� What happened to the lost art of the lullaby?

Matt Edmonds is trying to sing his child to sleep. It鈥檚 not working. As his baritone produces My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean for the 19th time and his toddler says 鈥淒ada, stop!鈥欌��, 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鈥檚 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, sleepy soundscape, Matt encounters people with stories that explore the power of the lullaby.

At a Neonatal Unit, Matt hears first-hand the impact live lullabies have on premature babies. He talks to Roxana Vilk, who is collecting lullabies 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 own attempts at lullabies, the sounds of the locations he visits, and music from Matt, Mica Bernard, and Johnny and Lillie Flynn.

A Sound & Bones production for 蜜芽传媒 Radio 4