Berceuse – Full Score

Description

A beautiful lullaby, famously featured in the 1990s film “Bicentennial Man,” starring the late Robin Williams, has been scored for the String Orchestra by arranger Larry Clark. With a note from the arranger to pick a tempo that exemplifies your Orchestra’s lyrical playing, this is a wonderful new setting of a classic work.

Program Notes

This setting of “Berceuse” from the Dolly Suite, Op. 56 by Gabriel Fauré for String Orchestra has been in the works in my mind for quite a few years. I first encountered this piece in the late 1990s in the movie Bicentennial Man, starring Robin Williams. The piece plays an important part in the movie, and I fell in love with it, wanting someday to have the chance to arrange the work.

The suite was originally written for piano duet by Fauré between 1894 and 1896, but the “Berceuse” was a reworking of an older work written in 1864. In 1906 it was published in an arrangement for Orchestra by Henri Rabaud. I used both the piano duet and the orchestral version as the basis for this String Orchestra setting. My goal was to keep the lushness of the original and extract the full range of color from the Strings.

This piece is a lullaby but has the interesting tempo marking of Allegro Moderato. Common practice seems to place the tempo anywhere from sixty beats per minute up to seventy-two. Pick a tempo that best suits your musical tastes while still bringing out the lyrical nature of this delightful work.

It has been my pleasure to have the opportunity to write this piece. I hope you and your students enjoy it and find it useful for your program.

-Larry Clark
Lakeland, FL, 2025