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Ach, könnt' ich blasen Ein Lied so hold, Wie ich es gerne Ersinnen wollt'; So tief aus der Seele, So tief aus der Brust, Mit all' meiner Sehnsucht Schmerz und Lust: Ich wollt' es blasen Den ganzen Tag, Da sollt' es schmettern Durch Wald und Hag! [Ich wollt' es]1 blasen Die ganze Nacht, Da sollt' es verhallen So sacht' -- so sacht! Und lernen müßten's Die Vöglein bald, Und singen müßt' es Der ganze Wald. Da sollt' sie es hören Von jedem Baum, Und Nachts meine Lieb' sie Umklingen im Traum!
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with Slavische Melodien von Siegfried Kapper, Leipzig: Wilhelm Einhorn, 1844, pages 61-62.
1 Titl: "Da wollt' ich es"Text Authorship:
- by Siegfried Kapper (1821 - 1879), no title, appears in Slavische Melodien, in Aus Böhmen, in Aus dem Liederbuche eines Jägers, no. 5 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Walther von Goethe (1818 - 1885), "Ach könnt' ich blasen", op. 22, Heft 1 no. 2, published 1851 [ voice and piano ], from Slavische Bilder, no. 2, Bonn: N. Simrock [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Anton Emil Titl (1809 - 1882), "Des Jägers Wunsch" [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2021-10-18
Line count: 24
Word count: 92
Ah, if I could but play A song so lovely, As I would Gladly devise it; From so deep in my soul, So deep in my breast, With all my yearning, Pain, and joy: I would play it All day long, Then it should blare Through wood and hedge! [I]1 would play it All night long, Then it should echo away So gently -- so gently! The birdlets would quickly Have to learn it, And the whole forest Would have to sing it. Then she should hear it From every tree, And at night they would surround my love With music in her dreams!
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesTranslations of titles:
"Ach könnt' ich blasen" = "Ah, if I could play"
"Des Jägers Wunsch" = "The hunter’s wish"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2025 by Sharon Krebs, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Siegfried Kapper (1821 - 1879), no title, appears in Slavische Melodien, in Aus Böhmen, in Aus dem Liederbuche eines Jägers, no. 5
This text was added to the website: 2025-12-01
Line count: 24
Word count: 105