The mother subconsciously composes the lullaby in tune with the beating of her own heart. Singing the lullaby, the mother sends to her baby a memory of his early life in the womb, before he was delivered into consciousness.

The muse of poetic composition arrives with the mother’s belief that the word has mystic meaning. In lullabies, mothers create incantations that promise safety, prosperity, and happiness to their children.

Masguda Shamsutdinova, Ph.D., ethnomusicologist, composer