Die Reichen und Glücklichen haben gut schweigen, niemand will wissen was sie sind. Aber die Dürftigen müssen sich zeigen, müssen sagen: ich bin blind oder: ich bin im Begriff es zu werden oder: es geht mir nicht gut auf Erden oder: ich habe ein krankes Kind oder: da bin ich zusammengefügt... Und vielleicht, daß das gar nicht genügt. Und weil alle sonst, wie an Dingen, an ihnen vorbeigehn, müssen sie singen. Und da hört man noch guten Gesang. Freilich die Menschen sind seltsam; sie hören lieber Kastraten in Knabenchören. Aber Gott selber kommt und bleibt lang wenn ihn diese Beschnittenen stören.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Das Buch der Bilder von Rainer Maria Rilke, Leipzig, Iminsel-Verlag, 1920, page 133.
Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Titelblatt", appears in Das Buch der Bilder, in Die Stimmen: Neun Blätter mit einem Titelblatt, no. 1, first published 1906 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Raffi Armenian (b. 1942), "Titelblatt", 1976 [ mixed chorus, brass quintet and percussion ], from Drei gedichte von Rainer Maria Rilke, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Antal Doráti (1906 - 1988), "Titelblatt", 1975, orchestrated 1978 [ bass and piano or orchestra ], from Die Stimmen, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karl Heinz Höne (1924 - 2008), "Die Reichen und Glücklichen" [ 4 soli and piano ], from Die Stimmen, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Albert Ernest Flemming , "Title page", appears in Rainer Maria Rilke: Selected Poems, first published 1986, copyright © ; composed by Stephen Paulus.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Page de titre", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2012-06-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 101
The rich and fortunate do well to keep silent [ ... ]
About the headline (FAQ)
This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.Authorship:
- by Albert Ernest Flemming , "Title page", appears in Rainer Maria Rilke: Selected Poems, first published 1986, copyright © [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Titelblatt", appears in Das Buch der Bilder, in Die Stimmen: Neun Blätter mit einem Titelblatt, no. 1, first published 1906
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Stephen Paulus (b. 1949), "Opening", copyright © 1998 [SATB chorus with divisi to SSSAAATTBB, semi-chorus, tenor solo, and full orchestra], from Voices, no. 1, Paulus Publications [ sung text checked 1 time]
This text was added to the website: 2012-06-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 126