An anthology of lullabies sounds like a sleepy proposition, and while that may be the point, bedtime music is like any other medium for the human imagination: There is good, bad and mediocre. The women of the California choral group Kitka have chosen their material well, focusing on the inevitably haunting melodies...

Two Early Music Now concerts this season diverted into folk music, a broader definition of what comprises "early music." And why not? Last fall Trio Mediaeval presented a program of Nordic folk songs. Music from the opposite end of Europe was featured in a concert Saturday night by Kitka at the Basilica of St. Josaphat. Kitka, a women's vocal ensemble based in San Francisco, specializes in music from southeastern Europe, particularly from Bulgaria. Music of this...