|
'''Frederic Mosley Sackett''' ([[December 17]], 1868-[[May 18]], 1941) served as a [[United States Senator]] from [[Kentucky]] and [[ambassador]] to [[Germany]] during the [[Hoover Administration]].
:''This page is for "lullaby", the song. See [[Lullaby (novel)]] for the [[Chuck Palahniuk]] [[novel]].''
He was born in [[Providence, Rhode Island]]. His father was a wealthy wools manufacturer. He attended the public schools in Providence. He graduated from [[Brown University]] in 1890 and from [[Harvard Law School]] in 1893.
A '''lullaby''' is a soothing [[song]] sung to [[child]]ren before they go to sleep. The idea is that the song sung by a familiar voice will lull the child to sleep. Lullabies written by established [[classical music|classical]] composers are sometimes called '''Berceuse''', which is a [[French language|French]] word for lullaby, or cradle song. A famous berceuse is [[Frédéric Chopin]]'s berceuse for solo piano, opus 57. Perhaps the most famous berceuse of all time (though it is called a lullaby) is Brahms' song Wiegenlied.
He was admitted to the bar in 1893 and began practice in [[Columbus, Ohio]]. Shorltly after he moved to [[Cincinnati, Ohio]] and then to [[Louisville, Kentucky]]. He practiced law until 1907.
[[Johannes Brahms]] wrote his famous "Lullaby" as a cradle song (''Wiegenlied'', in German), originally for a young singer whom he knew, Bertha Faber, on the occasion of the birth of her first child. The English lyrics are similar to the original German lyrics.
In 1898 he married [[Olive Speed]], the daughter of [[James Breckenridge Speed]], who was part of a wealthy and prominent Kentucky family.
Typically a berceuse is in triple meter, or in a compound meter such as 6/8. Tonally most berceuses are simple, often merely alternating [[Tonic (music)|tonic]] and [[Dominant (music)|dominant]] harmonies: since the intended effect is to put a baby to sleep, wild chromaticism would be somewhat out of character. Another characteristic of the berceuse--for no reason other than convention--is a tendency to stay on the "flat side" --for example the berceuses by Chopin, [[Franz Liszt|Liszt]] and [[Mily Balakirev|Balakirev]] are all in Db.
Although he began as an attorney, he gradually became involved in his wife's family business, the mining of coal and the manufacture of cement. He served as president of the Louisville Gas Co. and of the Louisville Lighting Co. from 1907-1912. He was involved with the Board of Trade of Louisville, serving as president in 1917, 1922, and 1923. He was also director of the Louisville Branch of the [[Federal Reserve Bank]] from 1917-1924. During the [[First World War]], he served as federal food administrator for Kentucky from 1917-1919. This led to a friendship with the directory of the national food administrator, [[Herbert Hoover]]. Afterwards he was a member of the Kentucky State Board of Charities and Corrections from 1919-1924.
Other famous examples of the genre include the piece by [[Maurice Ravel]] for violin and piano, ''Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré''; the ''Berceuse élégiaque'' by [[Ferruccio Busoni]]; and the ''Berceuse'' by [[Igor Stravinsky]] which is included in the ''[[The Firebird|Firebird]]'' ballet.
He was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1924 and served from March 4, 1925, to January 9, 1930, when he resigned, having been appointed Ambassador to Germany by President Herbert Hoover. He served from 1930 to 1933, when he resigned. Afterwards, he resumed his former business activities. He died of a heart attack while visiting [[Baltimore]], and is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville.
In Tamil (a classical language), lullaby is called as "Thaalattu". 'Thal' means 'tongue'. A melodious sound is created by frequent movement of the tongue at the beginning of the song. Thus, it earned its name "thaalattu" in Tamil.
{{bioguide}}
==Rock-a-bye baby
One of the most famous lullabies, "Rock a bye baby", is hardly lulling. Although it starts mildly enough, it quickly turns to disaster:
:''Rock a bye baby on the tree top,''
:''When the wind blows the cradle will rock,''
:''When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,''
:''And down will come baby, cradle and all.''
==References==
== Hush Little Baby ==
*Burke, Bernard V. ''Ambassador Frederic Sackett and the Collapse of the Weimar Republic, 1930-1933'' Cambridge University Press, 1994.
[[Category:1868 births|Sackett, Frederic M.]]
Another famous lullaby, generally known as "Hush Little Baby" makes many promises to the child if it will only be quiet and go to sleep, a sentiment with which parents will be familiar:
[[Category:1941 deaths|Sackett, Frederic M.]]
:''Hush little baby, don't say a word,''
[[Category:United States Senators from Kentucky|Sackett, Frederick M.]]
:''Momma's going to buy you a mockingbird''
[[Category:Ambassadors|Sackett, Frederic M.]]
and goes on to promise "a looking glass", "a horse and coach", and other treasures. This song has had the unusual distinction of two separate manifestations as a [[popular song]], first as the [[eponym]]ous "[[Bo Diddley]]" and then, in a near-[[fugue]] arrangement, as "Mockingbird", a hit first for the brother-and-sister team, [[Inez and Charlie Foxx]] in [[1963]], and then, for then husband and wife, [[James Taylor]] and [[Carly Simon]] in [[1974]], singing the Foxx arrangement. [[Toby Keith]] and his teenage daughter Krystal covered the song in [[2004]].
In [[2005]] [[rap music|rapper]] [[Eminem]] adapted ''"Mockingbird"'' into a song for his daughter. In it, he threatens to break the bird's neck if it won't sing.
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Musical forms]]
[[nl:Slaaplied]]
[[fr:Berceuse]]
[[de:Gutenachtlied]]
[[da:Berceuse]]
[[lb:Berceuse]]
| 