This is a tender little lullaby, dedicated to the infant son of a close

friend of Puccini's. Like most of the salon music of the time, it is

sentimental, but Puccini's simple, delicate writing for the vocal and

instrumental parts keep it from being mawkish. The image of the little

bird (l'uccellino) appears not only in the text, but in the music, which

depicts a bird singing, and hopping along the branches.

The original scoring was for voice and piano, but the song has occasionaly

been accompanied by a small orchestra, instead.

Each verse starts with a description of a little bird singing, then

tells the baby to sleep, and the song ends with the lines "You will

learn so many lovely things, but if you want to know how much I love you,

nobody in the world will ever be able to say!" The text is by Renato

Fucini, an engineer, teacher, and poet.

© All Music Guide