The Berceuse in G minor (sometimes followed parenthetically by the Finnish translation Kehtolaulu or by the English translation Cradle Song) is a concert piece for violin and accompaniment written in 1904 by the Finnish composer Armas Järnefelt.
Along with the earlier Prelude (Preludi) for orchestra (1900), the Berceuse is Järnefelt's most well-known piece—together, their popularity has "eclipsed" the composer's other works.
According to Järnefelt, he wrote the Berceuse in one sitting, having been inspired upon seeing his young daughter, Eva (then about two-years old, having been born on 7 November 1901), asleep in bed with a fever.
[3] Järnefelt sold the Berceuse to the Helsinki-based publishing house of Helsingfors nya musikhandel [fi] (K. G. Fazer [fi]), which in 1905 began issuing the piece—in all three versions by the composer—in conjunction with the German firm Breitkopf & Härtel.
The version for violin and piano, moreover, includes a dedication to the Swedish violinist Sigrid Lindberg.