Away in a Manger

About this arrangement

William J. Kirkpatrick’s tune “Cradle Song”, in C major and a gentle 3/4, three beats in a bar. Count “one, two” and play the pickup on “three”. The right hand uses two positions, fingered in the music. Play the pickup with the thumb on the G below middle C, then move the thumb up to middle C for bar 1: the C position, fingers on C D E F G. In bars 3 and 11 the little finger slides up from G to stretch to A. For bars 7–8 and 15–16 the hand drops to the G position, thumb on the G below middle C, returning to C in bar 9. Each pair of quavers carries one word, sung smoothly. The left hand holds one chord, or one low note, in each bar.

Practice tip: Feel the lilt of three beats: a little weight on beat one, lighter on two and three, like rocking a cradle. Practise the move in bar 7 on its own: after the quavers in bar 6, let the whole hand drop so the little finger plays D and the thumb is ready over the G.

The words

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head. The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay, the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

A short history

The words first appeared, with no author’s name, on 2 March 1882 in The Christian Cynosure, an American journal. The first known printing with music came in 1885, in Little Children’s Book for Schools and Families, published in Philadelphia by J. C. File for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America. Two years after that, James R. Murray printed them as “Luther’s Cradle Hymn”, claiming Martin Luther had written them for his children. There is no evidence for that, and scholars have long since dismissed it, but the story stuck for decades. A third verse, “Be near me, Lord Jesus”, was added in the early 1890s.

William J. Kirkpatrick (1838–1921), a Philadelphia hymn composer and editor, wrote this tune, which he called “Cradle Song”; it was published in 1895. In North America the carol is more often sung to Murray’s own tune, known as “Mueller”, but Kirkpatrick’s is the tune generally sung in Britain and much of the Commonwealth.

Quick facts

Tune

William J. Kirkpatrick, “Cradle Song”, 1895

Words

Anonymous, American, about 1882 (verse 1)

Level

Beginner (one hand position, simple left hand)

Key

C major

Time signature

3/4

Length

16 bars and a pickup

Tempo

Gently, crotchet = 88

Hands

Both hands on the grand staff: right hand on the treble staff, left hand on the bass staff

Copyright

Public domain tune and words; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal, church and classroom use

Questions and answers