Sleep, Jesus, Sleep (2022)
(Spy, Isuse, Spy)

Sleep, Jesus, Sleep is a traditional lullaby carol from Ukraine, translated into English and arranged by Roxanna Panufnik. It can be performed with piano or organ for either SATB choir or for unison voices. There is an optional descant which may be sung either in English or Ukrainian.

Duration: 3.5 minutes. Level of difficulty: medium.

In response to the terrible refugee crisis that rocks our world and, as the daughter of a refugee, I wanted to do something that would be of practical help. I sent my arrangement of this beautiful traditional Ukrainian carol to all the choral directors I knew (and some I didn’t!) and the result was 51 live performances all over the UK and in Belfast and Philadelphia, USA. We raised over £9,000 for The British Refugee Council through an honesty box policy – the choral directors would donate £3 per print to a Go Fund Me page.

I also released a single with Signum Records – an unusual arrangement for soprano, gospel choir and Afghan tabla. The latter because, as soon as the war in Ukraine commenced, the plight of Afghans trying to escape a newly-returned brutal regime seemed to be all but forgotten.

Many thanks to Ukrainian translator Tina Deinekhovska and soprano Inna Husieva who sung the solo beautifully on our single and has also helped me with Ukrainian transliteration.

I will continue to donate all my proceeds from this work to The Refugee Council and so I’m especially grateful to all of you who choose to perform it.

Roxanna Panufnik, 29 July 2023