Schlaf wohl, du Himmelsknabe — SATB Choir Sheet Music (Max Reger)

A German Christmas lullaby — the shepherds singing the Christ child to sleep at the manger in Bethlehem. The text is by the Swabian poet Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (1739–1791), the melody is a traditional tune in a rocking 6/8. Max Reger set it for four-part mixed choir as the seventh of his Sieben geistliche Volkslieder (WoO VI/14), published in 1900 under the title “Wiegenlied der Hirten an der Krippe zu Bethlehem”. This edition is Paul Lorenz’ choral score of Reger’s setting.

Yes. The player near the top of this page is a real choir singing Paul Lorenz’ arrangement in the studio — four voices, in the printed key of F major at the printed tempo of ♪ = 110. It is not a synthesised playback, which is all that free editions of this lullaby give you. It is there so that you can judge the setting by ear — the inner voices especially — before you commit a rehearsal to it.

One PDF: the complete SATB choral score on two A4 pages. A pickup and eighteen bars in 6/8 at ♪ = 110, F major, with all three German verses underlaid in every voice, closing on a fermata. The setting is a cappella — there is no piano or organ part, because Reger’s setting does not have one. All four voices are engraved together in score, so every singer sees the whole harmony; there are no separately extracted voice parts, and a two-page choral piece needs none.

The text is the original German, all three verses (“Schlaf wohl, du Himmelsknabe du”, “Maria hat mit Mutterlieb’”, “Und wirst du groß”), each followed by the closing line “Schlafe, Himmelssöhnchen, schlafe”. There is no English singing translation in this edition. If your choir needs one, ask before you buy — Paul Lorenz can underlay an English text to order.

Grade 3 — a good church, community or chamber choir upwards. The soprano melody is simple and singable at first sight. The work is in the lower voices: Reger moves the alto, tenor and bass through chromatic passing notes (A♭, E♭, F♯, D♭) that have to be tuned without a piano underneath. There is no divisi except the basses’ octave on the very last chord. A choir that can hold a chord unaccompanied can sing this beautifully.

Each verse is eighteen bars — about a minute at the printed tempo — so all three verses take roughly three minutes. Most choirs have the notes in one rehearsal and the colour in two or three; the time goes into tuning Reger’s chromatic inner voices and shaping three verses as one arc rather than three repetitions.

No. One purchase licenses the arrangement for performances by the purchasing choir, and you print as many copies as you have singers. During the launch it costs €9.90 instead of the regular €14.90 — less than a printed octavo costs for six singers.

Schubart’s text, the traditional melody and Max Reger’s 1900 setting are all in the public domain. This edition is Paul Lorenz’ own, and your purchase includes the right to perform it with the purchasing ensemble — public concerts, church services and professional engagements included. Performing rights in the work itself are administered by the collecting society in your territory (AKM, GEMA, SUISA, ASCAP, BMI, PRS), and the organiser reports the performance to them as usual. For a commercial recording or a broadcast, contact us directly.

Yes — this is a core service at Paul Lorenz Music, not an afterthought. A transposition for a choir whose sopranos sit low, an organ or string accompaniment for a large church, an English underlay, a version for upper voices: describe what you need and Paul Lorenz edits the score by hand. Write to us before you buy so the edition arrives ready for your rehearsal.

Because the product is a digital download, refunds cannot be offered once the file has been accessed. That is precisely why the whole first page of the score is shown above at full resolution and why a real choir sings this edition on this page: you should be able to decide before you pay, not after. If anything is still unclear, write to us first — we would rather answer a question than process a refund.

A rehearsal app in the browser for phone, tablet and computer – nothing to install. You practise your part of this a cappella setting with a click track and add each of the four choir parts on its own: sung, on the piano or not at all. The score follows the music (all three verses written out) with your part highlighted; tempo 50–100 % without changing pitch, loops for tricky bars and the starting note at a tap. Try it free: bars 1–12, right on this page.

The edition includes one personal access for you. For your choir, add packs of 10, 25 or 50 access codes on your download page – from €3.50 per singer – and hand the codes out. Each code is for one person on up to three of their own devices. Individual singers – including choirs that use a different edition – buy their own access here for €9.90.

No. You pay once per work; the access code arrives by e-mail instantly, with a PDF invoice.