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Ich möchte wol der Kaiser seyn! Den Orient wollt' ich erschüttern; Die Muselmänner [sollten]1 zittern, Konstantinopel wäre mein! Ich möchte wol der Kaiser seyn! Ich möchte wol der Kaiser seyn! Athen und Sparta sollten werden, [Wie]2 Rom, die Königin der Erden, [Die alte]3 sollte sich [verneun]4! Ich möchte wol der Kaiser seyn! Ich möchte wol der Kaiser seyn! [Die grossen Helden mir zu singen, Wollt' ich die grossen Geister dingen;]5 Die goldnen Zeiten führt' ich ein! Ich möchte wol der Kaiser seyn! Ich möchte wol der Kaiser seyn! Weil aber Joseph meinen Willen Bei seinem Leben will erfüllen, Und sich darauf die Weisen freun, So mag er immer Kaiser seyn!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Lyrische Anthologie, Herausgegeben von Friedrich Matthisson, Neunzehnter Theil, Zürich: bey Orell Füssli und Compagnie, 1807, page 94.
1 Lang: "würden"; Mozart: "müßten"2 Holzer: "Und"
3 Lang, Mozart: "Das Alte"
4 Holzer, Lang, Mozart: "erneu'n"
5 Lang, Mozart: "Die besten Dichter wollt ich dingen, / Der Helden Taten zu besingen,"
Text Authorship:
- by Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim (1719 - 1803), "Der Kaiser" [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 Johann Holzer (1753 - 1818), "Der Kayser", published 1779 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig: im Schwickertschen Verlage [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Meine Wünsche!", c1835 [ voice and piano ], unpublished [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791), "Ein deutsches Kriegslied", K. 539 (1788) [ bass and orchestra ] [sung text checked 2 times]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Een Duits krijgslied", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 116
I would quite like to be the emperor! I would shake up the Orient; The Muslims [would]1 quake, Constantinople would belong to me! I would quite like to be the emperor! I would quite like to be the emperor! Athens and Sparta should become, [Like]2 Rome, the queen of the world, [The ancient world should renew itself]3! I would quite like to be the emperor! I would quite like to be the emperor! [To sing the praises of the great heroes, I would engage the great minds;]4 I would usher in the Golden Age! I would quite like to be the emperor! I would quite like to be the emperor! But since, by his life, Joseph intends To fulfill my wishes, And the wise people rejoice in that, My he thus always be the emperor!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Translations of title(s):
"Der Kaiser" = "The emperor"
"Der Kayser" = "The emperor"
"Ein deutsches Kriegslied" = "A German battle song"
"Meine Wünsche!" = "My wishes!"
2 Holzer: "And"
3 Lang, Mozart: "That which is ancient should renew itself"
4 Lang, Mozart: "I would engage the best poets, / To sing of the deeds of the heroes,"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 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 Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim (1719 - 1803), "Der Kaiser"
This text was added to the website: 2023-01-07
Line count: 20
Word count: 140