berceuse, musical composition, typically of the 19th century, having the character of a soothing refrain. While the word appears to imply no particular formal pattern, rocking rhythms in 6/8 time are common not only in the vocal prototype but also in its stylized instrumental counterparts, usually written for piano. A well-known example of the latter is Frédéric Chopin’s Berceuse in D-flat Major (1843–44), with its elaborate figurations above a static, repetitive pattern in the left hand.
Prominent among subsequent composers of berceuses were Franz Liszt, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Maurice Ravel. An appealing example is the Berceuse for voice, piano, and cello (1912) by the early 20th-century Dutch composer Alphons Diepenbrock.