Artists make art. The art of Brahms, who was a great artist, was accordingly very artificial. Because one would often like to be different from what one is, the artist Brahms dreamed of the simple folk song. It must have cost the composer insane restraint to invent such an unaffected melody as the "Lullaby". The art is still there, it "slipped" into the piano accompaniment. The melody, however, has become common property. Many a composer would give away entire symphonies for it.
