1. Britten composed A Charm of Lullabies for the voice of Nancy Evans, who created the role of Nancy (a name chosen deliberately by the librettist, Eric Crozier) in Albert Herring. The songs are ‘A cradle song’ (William Blake), ‘The Highland balou’ (Robert Burns), ‘Sephestia’s lullaby’ (Robert Greene), ‘A charm’ (Thomas Randolph) and ‘The nurse’s song’ (John Phillip). The title of the cycle puns on the word ‘charm’, which also means ‘to put to sleep’. It derives from the Latin ‘carmen’ = ‘song’.