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

by Adolph Martin Foerster (1854 - 1927)

1. Gleich und gleich  [sung text not yet checked]
by Adolph Martin Foerster (1854 - 1927), "Gleich und gleich", op. 6 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1 (1878), published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Du kleines blitzendes Sternelein,
Nun sag mir, was willst du,
Du kannst da oben ja seelig sein,
Was blinzelst du mir denn zu?

Such du dir dein Liebstes im Sternenreihn,
Und laß mich mit Blinzeln in Ruh,
Ich hab auf Erden ein Sternelein,
Das ist viel schöner als du!

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Confirmed with Otto Roquette, Liederbuch, Stuttgart und Tübingen: J.G. Cotta’scher Verlag, 1852, page 120


by Otto Roquette (1824 - 1896)
1. Two of the same
Language: English 
You little sparkling star,
Tell me now, what do you want,
You may be blissful up there on high,
Why do you wink at me?

Seek your own beloved in the round dance of the stars,
And leave me alone with your winking,
I have a little star on earth
Who is much more beautiful than you!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 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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Translations of title(s):
"Gleich und gleich" = "Two of the same"
"Das Sternlein " = "The little star"



This text was added to the website: 2017-09-25
Line count: 8
Word count: 57

Translation © by Sharon Krebs
2. Wehmut  [sung text not yet checked]
by Adolph Martin Foerster (1854 - 1927), "Wehmut", op. 6 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2 (1878), published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Ich kann wohl manchmal singen,
Als ob ich fröhlich sei,
Doch heimlich Tränen dringen,
Da wird das Herz mir frei.

[Es]1 lassen Nachtigallen,
Spielt draußen Frühlingsluft,
Der Sehnsucht Lied erschallen
Aus ihres [Kerkers]2 Gruft.

[Da]3 lauschen alle Herzen,
Und alles ist erfreut,
Doch keiner [fühlt]3 die Schmerzen,
Im Lied das tiefe Leid.

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1 Blodek, Hensel, Jensen, Schoeck, Széchényi: "So"
2 Blodek, Jensen, Schoeck, Széchényi: "Käfigs"
3 Barth, Hensel: "Es"
4 Hensel: "ahnt"

by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857)
2. Melancholy
Language: English 
Sometimes I can sing
as if I were happy,
but secretly tears well up
and free my heart.

The nightingales, 
when spring breezes play, let
their songs of yearning resound
from the depths of their dungeons.

Then all hearts listen
and everyone rejoices;
yet no one truly feels the anguish
of the song's deep sorrow.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


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Translation of title "Wehmut" = "Melancholy"


This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 55

Translation © by Emily Ezust
3. Im Rhein, im schönen Strome  [sung text not yet checked]
by Adolph Martin Foerster (1854 - 1927), "Im Rhein, im schönen Strome", op. 6 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3 (1878), published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt
Language: German (Deutsch) 
[Im]1 Rhein, [im]1 [schönen]2 Strome,
Da spiegelt sich in den [Well'n]3
Mit seinem großen Dome
Das [große, heil'ge]4 Köln.

Im Dom da steht ein Bildnis,
Auf [goldnem Leder]5 gemalt;
In meines Lebens Wildnis
Hat's freundlich [hineingestrahlt]6.

Es schweben Blumen und [Eng'lein]7
Um unsre liebe Frau;
Die Augen, die Lippen, die Wänglein,
Die gleichen der Liebsten genau.

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Confirmed with Heinrich Heine, Buch der Lieder, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg, 1827, page 120.

Note: in the first version of the poem, Heine has "heiligen" in stanza 1, line 1, word 4.

1 Hollmann, Urspruch: "Am" / "am"; further changes may exist for Hollmann's setting, not shown above.
2 Schumann, Franz: "heiligen"
3 Liszt: "Wellen"
4 Liszt, Urspruch: "große, das heilige"
5 Franz: "goldenem Grunde"; Urspruch: "goldenes Leder"
6 Urspruch: "herein gestrahlt"
7 Ender: "Eng'lein"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
3. In the Rhine, in the fair stream
Language: English 
In the Rhine, in the holy stream
Is it mirrored in the waves -
With its great cathedral -
That great, holy city Cologne.

In the Cathedral stands an image
Painted on golden leather;
Into the wildness of my life
Has it shone, friendly.

Flowers and little cherubs hover
Around our beloved Lady;
The eyes, the lips, the cheeks--
They match my beloved's exactly.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Paul Hindemith, (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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 62

Translation © by Paul Hindemith
4. Hör' ich das Liedchen klingen  [sung text not yet checked]
by Adolph Martin Foerster (1854 - 1927), "Hör' ich das Liedchen klingen", op. 6 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4 (1878), published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Hör' ich das Liedchen klingen,
Das einst die Liebste sang,
[So will mir die Brust]1 zerspringen
[Vor]2 wildem [Schmerzendrang.]3

[Es treibt mich]4 ein dunkles Sehnen
Hinauf [zur]5 Waldeshöh',
Dort löst sich auf in Tränen
Mein übergroßes Weh'.

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Confirmed with Heinrich Heine, Buch der Lieder, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg, 1827, page 145.

1 Meyerbeer: "Will mir das Herz"
2 Schumann: "Von"
3 Franz, Hinrichs: "Schmerzensdrang"
4 Meyerbeer: "Mich treibt"
5 Hinrichs: "zu der"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
4. I hear the dear song sounding
Language: English 
I hear the dear song sounding
That once my beloved sang.
And my heart wants to burst so strongly
From the savage pressure of pain.

A dark longing is driving me
Up into the heights of the woods
Where in my tears can be dissolved
My own colossal woe.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Paul Hindemith, (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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 49

Translation © by Paul Hindemith
5. Meeresstille  [sung text not yet checked]
by Adolph Martin Foerster (1854 - 1927), "Meeresstille", op. 6 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 5 (1878), published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Tiefe Stille herrscht im Wasser,
Ohne Regung ruht das Meer,
Und bekümmert sieht der Schiffer
Glatte Fläche rings umher.
Keine Luft von keiner Seite!
Todesstille fürchterlich!
In der ungeheuern Weite
Reget keine Welle sich.

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Confirmed with Goethe's Werke, Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand, Erster Band, Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cottaschen Buchhandlung, 1827, page 73; with Göthe's neue Schriften. Siebenter Band. Berlin. Bei Johann Friedrich Unger. 1800, page 18; and with Musen-Almanach für das Jahr 1796. Herausgegeben von Schiller. Neustrelitz, bei dem Hofbuchhändler Michaelis, page 83.

Note: The poem's title in the first edition (Schiller's Musenalmanach 1796) is "Meeresstille", from the second edition on (1800) it is "Meeres Stille".


by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
5. Deep stillness reigns on the water
Language: English 
Deep stillness reigns on the water;
motionless, the sea rests,
and the sailor gazes about with alarm
at the smooth flatness all around.

No breeze from any side!
It is fearfully, deathly still!
In the enormous expanse
not one wave stirs.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 41

Translation © by Emily Ezust
6. So wandl' ich wieder den alten Weg  [sung text not yet checked]
by Adolph Martin Foerster (1854 - 1927), "So wandl' ich wieder den alten Weg", op. 6 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 6 (1878), published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt
Language: German (Deutsch) 
So wandl' ich wieder den alten Weg,
Die wohlbekannten Gassen;
Ich komme vor meiner Liebsten Haus,
Das steht so leer und verlassen.

Die Straßen sind doch gar zu eng!
Das Pflaster ist unerträglich!
Die Häuser fallen mir auf den Kopf!
Ich eile so viel als möglich!

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by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
6.
[Translation not yet available]