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As universal as lullabies are, they are also part of a deeply private ritual between children and their families – but a project has brought these intimate creations into the light in a bid to curate a portrait of Jersey’s population.
‘The Lullaby Project’ culminates in a public choral performance this weekend.
Led by Esther Rose Parkes, a musician, music therapist and composer, and Susanne Kudielka, whose background is in stage design and public art initiatives, the project started nearly four years ago by a simple discussion between the pair, who are friends and share German roots.
“I have been interested in lullabies for a while, I wrote one for adults because we all need comfort and calm,” Esther explained. “Lullabies are the most ancient song form since language started, it’s really fascinating.”
Susanne added: “The first recorded song that has been found on a piece of clay is a lullaby. It seems to be the start of all songs and it’s the first song a child hears. Every country, every culture has them.
"As we wanted to look at who was living in Jersey and calling Jersey home at the same point in time, we came up with the idea of the lullaby project.”
The project started with a “gathering of information” and recording sessions at Jersey Library. Esther and Susanne set up a rocking chair and a recorder in a room and invited people to come and share their lullabies as well as their stories with them.
Over the space of six months in 2023, they collected nearly 70 lullabies in over 10 languages.
Pictured: Volunteers recorded themselves singing lullabies on a rocking chair.
“We saw a lot of mums with their young children,” Susanne recalled. “Children are programmed to fall asleep when they hear the lullabies, so they fell asleep in the middle of the day as their mother recorded it.
"We heard a lot of wonderful stories. Something I did not foresee was how personal and intimate the relationships were, the lullabies are part of the mother and children relationship. We were quite privileged to hear the song and the personal story behind it. I did not think it would be so precious to have these songs recorded.”
“In some cases, the song had never left that private space of the home, and we were witnessing something that is usually very private,” Esther said.
“What was interesting is that we were also creating a snapshot in time of what themes are in lullabies at the moment. They were about parents making a wish for their children for the future, their blessings for them and wanting their children to embrace their lives in a positive way.
It was really about wanting to communicate their love for their child.”
Following this, the pair started hosting listening stations at community events where people were able to listen to the lullabies that had been collected so far as well as songwriting workshops where islanders were invited to come write their own, which Esther say were “very special”.
Choir arrangers were then commissioned to produce songs from the collection.
Pictured: The pair visited locations to share the recordings and write new lullabies.
Now four years in the making, the project, which was part commissioned by ArtHouse Jersey and supported by The One Foundation, Jersey Community Foundation and a Connect Me Government Grant, is reaching its next stage, one which Esther and Susanne didn’t necessarily foresee.
This Saturday 30 November and Saturday 7 December, The Lullaby Choir will be performing a series of lullabies in Farsi, Urdu, Dutch, Maori and English. In total, there are 14 original compositions arranged especially for the choir and one traditional Maori piece, with a unique arrangement.
“Lullabies are unaccompanied and single line, and here we are moving into three or four-people harmonies and moving away from the original form,” Esther said. “It’s a real testament to the power of song and how beautiful it is to share this intimacy with a wider group.
"It’s very special, it really allows people to share their story with each other. Storytelling is an important part of the project.
“This art form takes place in private places and is often linked to women and motherhood – it felt really important to bring this more into the public sphere.”
The choir features 20 singers, all women, with a mix of experiences and eight of their children have been attending rehearsals and joining in when they wanted to.
“What’s really touching is when the songwriter steps in a circle and hears the choir sing their song back to them, there’s something profoundly beautiful about it,” Esther said.
“I’ll never forget the expression on a little girl’s face when she heard the song her mum had written for her being sung by the choir.”
Susanne added: “Hearing these songs we recorded in a very quiet environment transformed into a Dolby surround is a wonderful step further, it feels like the right direction.”
“With a concert audience, it will be even more special,” Esther continued. “When it comes to singing, acoustics are key, and churches are built for choirs.
"I am looking forward to hearing how these songs are coming together with beautiful acoustics, for all those people who all have worked so hard in a short space of time to really hear themselves and for the songwriters to have their pieces performed in that way to an audience.”
Whilst Esther described the concert as a “confirmation of the project”, this won’t be the final note for the lullabies, although the pair admitted they are not sure what the next step will be.
“There are possible future steps in the pipeline,” Esther said. “First, we have the task of completing the collection project and putting the collection in an online archive where it can be available to everyone.
"We will also be running two lullaby writing workshops at HMP La Moye in January – one offered to women and one to men – continuing the Moving Arts Collective's partnership work with the prison.”
The first lullaby concert takes place this Saturday 30 November from 18:00 at St Helier's Town Church. Reserve your free ticket here.
This article first appeared in November's edition of Connect magazine – pick up a FREE copy around the island or read the digital edition in full below...
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