English translations of Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, opus 6

by Wilhelm Steifensand (1820 - 1882)

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1. Im Wald  [sung text not yet checked]
by Wilhelm Steifensand (1820 - 1882), "Im Wald", op. 6 (Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1851 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Bote und Bock
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Im Wald, im hellen Sonnenschein
Wenn alle Knospen springen,
[Da]1 mag ich gerne mittendrein
Eins singen.

Wie mir zu Muth in Leid und Lust,
Im Wachen und im Träumen,
Das stimm' ich an aus voller Brust
Den Bäumen.

Und sie verstehen mich gar fein,
Die Blätter alle lauschen,
Und fall'n am rechten Orte ein,
Mit Rauschen.

Und weiter [wandelt]2 Schall und Hall,
In Wipfeln, Fels und Büschen.
Hell schmettert auch Frau Nachtigall
Dazwischen.

Da fühlt die Brust am eignen Klang,
Sie darf sich was erkühnen --
O [frische Lust: Gesang! Gesang]3
Im Grünen!

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Confirmed with Gedichte von Emanuel Geibel. Erste wohlfeile Ausgabe, Nijmegen, AE. Timmerman, 1846, pages 74-75. Modern German would change the spelling "Muth" -> "Mut"

1 Hensel, Raff, Sahr, Thuille: "Dann"
2 Raff: "wandert"
3 Randhartinger, Thuille: "frische Luft: Gesang! Gesang"; Zöllner: "frischer, froher Lustgesang"

by Emanuel von Geibel (1815 - 1884)
1. In the forest, in bright sunshine
Language: English 
In the forest, in bright sunshine,
when all the buds spring up,
it is right in the middle of there that I like
to sing a song.

According to my mood, in sorrow and joy,
awake and in dreams,
I give it voice with full heart
to the trees.

And they understand me to the letter,
the leaves eavesdrop
and fall in at the right place,
with rustling.

And the sound and echo wander farther,
through the treetops, rocks, and bushes.
Miss Nightingale also blares away brightly
in the midst of it all.

Then, when the heart hears its own sound,
it feels it can do whatever it dares to,
oh what a lively pleasure, a song, a song
among the greenery.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2008 by Joel Ayau, (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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This text was added to the website: 2008-12-10
Line count: 20
Word count: 122

Translation © by Joel Ayau
2. So halt' ich endlich dich umfangen  [sung text not yet checked]
by Wilhelm Steifensand (1820 - 1882), "So halt' ich endlich dich umfangen", op. 6 (Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1851 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Bote und Bock
Language: German (Deutsch) 
So halt' ich endlich dich umfangen,
In süßes Schweigen starb das Wort,
Und meine trunknen Lippen hangen
An deinen Lippen fort und fort!

Was nur [das Glück]1 vermag zu geben,
In sel'ger Fülle ist es mein;
Ich habe dich, geliebtes Leben,
Was braucht es mehr, als dich allein?

O, decke jetzt des Schicksals Wille
Mit Nacht die Welt und ihre Zier,
Und nur dein Auge schwebe stille,
Ein [blauer Himmel]2, über mir!

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Confirmed with Gedichte von Emanuel Geibel, Band I, Vierundsechzigste Auflage, Stuttgart, Verlag der J. G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1869, page 68.

1 Bolko von Hochberg: "die Welt"
2 Bolko von Hochberg: "strahlend Sternlein"

by Emanuel von Geibel (1815 - 1884)
2.
Language: English 
At last I hold you in an embrace,
words vanish into sweet silence,
and my intoxicated lips
will hang on yours for ever.
 
What only fortune can give
is mine in blest abundance;
I have you, beloved life,
what more is needed than you alone?
 
O let it now be fate's intention
to cover the world and its glitter with night,
leaving only your eyes, hushed, to hover
over me like a blue sky.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2012 by T. P. (Peter) Perrin, (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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This text was added to the website: 2012-02-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 74

Translation © by T. P. (Peter) Perrin
3. Glück  [sung text not yet checked]
by Wilhelm Steifensand (1820 - 1882), "Glück", op. 6 (Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1851 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Bote und Bock
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Wie jauchzt meine Seele
Und singet in sich!
Kaum, daß ich's verhehle,
So glücklich bin ich.

Rings Menschen sich drehen
Und sprechen gescheut,
Ich kann nichts verstehen,
So fröhlich zerstreut. -

Zu eng wird das Zimmer,
Wie glänzet das Feld,
Die Täler voll Schimmer,
Weit, herrlich die Welt!

Gepreßt bricht die Freude
Durch Riegel und Schloß,
Fort über die Heide!
Ach, hätt' ich ein Roß! -

Und frag' ich und sinn' ich,
Wie so mir geschehn? -
Mein Liebchen herzinnig,
Das soll ich heut' sehn.

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by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857)
3.
Language: English 
How my soul rejoices
And sings within!
I can hardly conceal
How happy I am.

Everyone turns around
And speaks timidly,
I don’t understand anything,
So happy amused.

The room feels too close,
How the meadow gleams,
The valleys all a-shimmer,
Glorious the wide world!

Condensed, joy breaks
Through latch and lock,
Forth over the moor!
Ah, if only I had a horse!

And I ask and I ponder,
How is this happening to me?
The dearest one of my heart,
Who I will see today.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Michael P Rosewall, (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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This text was added to the website: 2022-07-12
Line count: 20
Word count: 86

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall
4. Ständchen  [sung text not yet checked]
by Wilhelm Steifensand (1820 - 1882), "Ständchen", op. 6 (Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1851 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Bote und Bock
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Was wecken aus dem Schlummer mich
Für süße Klänge doch?
O Mutter, sieh! wer mag es sein,
[In]1 später Stunde noch?

"Ich [höre nichts, ich sehe]2 nichts,
O schlummre fort so lind!
Man bringt dir keine Ständchen [jetzt]3,
Du armes, krankes Kind!"

[Es ist nicht irdische Musik,
Was]4 mich so freudig macht;
Mich rufen Engel mit Gesang,
O Mutter, gute Nacht!

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Confirmed with Uhlands Werke, Erster Teil, Gedichte, herausgegeben von Adalbert Silbermann, Berlin, Leipzig, Wien, Stuttgart: Deutsches Verlagshaus Bong & Co., [no year], page 141.

1 Randhartinger (song with string quartet): "In so"
2 Hensel: "sehe nichts, ich höre"; Randhartinger (song with string quartet): "höre nichts, ich höre"
3 Lang: "mehr"
4 Mendel: "Nicht irdische Musik ist es/ Das"

by Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787 - 1862)
4. The serenade
Language: English 
What sweet sounds awaken me
From my slumbers?
Oh mother, go see! Who might it be
At such a late hour yet?

"I don't hear anything, I don't see anything,
Oh, keep on slumbering so gently!
No one is coming to serenade you [now]1,
You poor sick child!"

It is not earthly music
That fills me with such joy.
The angels are calling me with song;
Oh mother, good night!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2021 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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Translated titles:
"Das Ständchen" = "The serenade"
"Ständchen" = "Serenade"
"Was wecken aus dem Schlummer mich" = "What awakens me from slumber"

1 Lang: "anymore"


This text was added to the website: 2006-12-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 72

Translation © by Sharon Krebs
5. Im Garten  [sung text not yet checked]
by Wilhelm Steifensand (1820 - 1882), "Im Garten", op. 6 (Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 5, published 1851 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Bote und Bock
Language: German (Deutsch) 
In meinem Garten die Nelken
mit ihrem Purpurstern
[müssen]1 nun alle verwelken,
   denn [du]2 bist fern.

Auf meinem [Herde]3 die Flammen
die ich bewacht so gern,
[sanken in]4 Asche zusammen,
   denn [du]2 bist fern.

Die Welt ist mir verdorben,
mich grüßt nicht [Blume nicht]5 Stern,
mein Herz ist [lange]6 gestorben,
   denn du bist fern.

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Note for stanza 1, line 4: in Stuckenschmidt's setting, "du, ach du" returns to the original "du" in the repetition.

1 Blodek: "sie müssen"; Stuckenschmidt: "die müssen"
2 Stuckenschmidt: "du, ach du"
3 Wolfrum: "Herd"
4 Blodek: "sie sanken in"; Stuckenschmidt: "sie sanken zu"
5 Blodek: "Blume noch"; Wolfrum: "Blum' nicht"
6 Amadei: "lang'"

by Emanuel von Geibel (1815 - 1884)
5. The carnations in my garden
Language: English 
The carnations in my garden
with their crimson center-star
they all must wilt away now,
because you are afar.

The flames in my hearth
I so loved to watch,
they crumbled to ashes,
because you are afar.

The world went sour,
with neither flower greeting me nor star -
my heart died away long ago,
because you are afar.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2005 by Linda Godry, (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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This text was added to the website: 2005-03-31
Line count: 12
Word count: 58

Translation © by Linda Godry