Obscure Music Monday: Carreño's Le sommeil de l'enfant

Maria Teresa Carreño Garcia de Sena (Dec. 22, 1853 - June 12, 1917) was a Venezuelan pianist, singer, conductor, and composer. Born in to a musical family, she became known around he world as a virtuoso pianist, often referred to as the "Valkyrie of the piano".

Carreño showed great talent as a child, and took lessons early on with her father. When she was only nine years old her family moved to New York City, and Carreño started giving public and private concerts shortly after. After meeting Louis Morea Gottschalk, a composer who promoted her playing, Carreño would play all over the east coast, and even performed at the White House. In 1866 her family left for Paris, where she began voice lessons with Rossini, and became acquainted with several composers, including Gounod and Liszt. She would go on to give piano recitals and soloing with orchestras across Europe, the US, and Venezuela, and established herself as a formidable musician.

One of her lovely works for solo piano is Le sommeil de l'enfant, or The Child's Sleep. This charming piece is a light-hearted waltz, with a motif throughout that goes up and down three notes, as if mimicking a child being rocked to sleep to it, and has a slight meditative piece. She dedicated this calming, intimate work to her father.