In 1908 Maurice Ravel composed Gaspard de la nuit, a three-part piano work inspired by three poems from Aloysius Bertrand’s collection of the same title. The macabre atmosphere of the poetry and music runs like a thread through this nocturnal programme. Alban Berg’s settings of poems by Hebbel and Mommert – Four Songs op. 2 – also sketch a dark and disconcerting image of the subconscious and the human condition. Franz Schubert was drawn to the night, as it gave him the opportunity to dream of an appealing but nonexistent reality. At the same time, the night is also the frightening incarnation of death in such songs as Erlkönig and Fahrt zum Hades. By contrast, the five children’s songs from Benjamin Britten’s A Charm of Lullabies are cheerful and unrestrained. The nightowls in this programme are the Dutch mezzo Christianne Stotijn and pianist Inon Barnatan.