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Ach fänd ich deine Spuren bloß -- Wie wollt ich gehn, wie wollt ich spähn! -- Der Wald ist kahl und blätterlos, Und du bist fort, bist nicht zu sehn. Der Wald ist kahl und öd der Steig, Und [mir ist trüb' und mir ist schwer.]1 Die Blätter modern in dem Teich, Es grünt nicht mehr, es blüht nicht mehr. Ach schallte mir dein leichter Gang [Wie Vogelsang, wie Vogelschritt!]2 Mir brächt er Blumen und Gesang [Und Frühling mit],2 den Frühling mit! Mir brächt er, was so lieblich war, Wie [Sonnenlicht]4, wie Mondenlicht, Er brächte mir dein Augenpaar, Dein Angesicht, dein Angesicht!
G. Jenner sets stanzas 2-4
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Klaus Groth's Gesammelte Werke, Vierter Band (Plattdeutsche Erzählungen -- Hochdeutsche Gedichte), Kiel und Leipzig: Verlag con Lipsius & Tischer, 1893, page 242.
Note: Hofmeister indicates "Der Wald ist kalt" as the incipit of Homberg's setting, as Challier does for Jenner's; but these appear to be typos. The Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin card catalogue shows "kahl" for Homberg's incipit, and the score of Jenner's setting shows "kahl" in the music as well.
1 Jenner: "meine Seele trüb' und schwer"2 Jenner: "Noch durch den Wald, wie Vogeltritt"
3 Jenner: "Er brächte mir"
4 Jenner: "Sonnenduft"
Text Authorship:
- by Klaus Groth (1819 - 1899), no title, written 1859 [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 Carl Georg Peter Grädener (1812 - 1883), "Dein Angesicht", op. 56 no. 4, published 1879 [ voice and piano ], from [Fünf] Liebeslieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 4, Hamburg, Pohle [sung text not yet checked]
- by L. Homberg , "Der Wald ist kahl und öd'", op. 3 (Zwei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 1, published 1889 [ voice and piano ], Wien, Wetzler; note: the sung text begins with stanza 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gustav Jenner (1865 - 1920), "Der Wald ist kahl", op. 2 (Acht Lieder von Klaus Groth für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte), Heft 2 no. 7, published 1891, stanzas 2-4 [ voice and piano ], Berlin: N. Simrock [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2011-05-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 105
Ah, if I could only find a trace of you -- How would I walk, how would I keep a lookout! -- The woods are bare and leafless, And you are gone, are not to be seen. The forest is leafless and desolate the path, And [I feel bleak and I feel weighed down.]1 The leaves are mouldering in the pond, No green any longer, no blossoming any longer. Ah, if I could only hear your light footfall [Like the song, like the stepping of a bird]2 It would bring me flowers and singing [And]3 springtime, springtime! It would bring me that which was so lovely, Like [sunlight]4, like moonlight, It would bring me your eyes, Your face, your face!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Translated titles:
"Dein Angesicht" = "Your face"
"Der Wald ist kahl" = "The woods are bare"
1 Jenner: "my soul is bleak and weighed down"
2 Jenner: "Still sounding through the forest like the stepping of a bird"
3 Jenner: "It would bring me"
4 Jenner: "Sun-scent"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2015 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Klaus Groth (1819 - 1899), no title, written 1859
This text was added to the website: 2015-10-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 123