English translations of Fünf Lieder für gemischten Chor, opus 28

by Louis Ehlert (1825 - 1884)

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1. Frische Fahrt  [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Ehlert (1825 - 1884), "Frische Fahrt", op. 28 (Fünf Lieder für gemischten Chor) no. 1, published 1862? [ mixed chorus a cappella ], Berlin, Trautwein? (only 4 and 5 are in Hofmeister)
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Laue Luft kommt blau geflossen,
Frühling, Frühling soll es sein!
Waldwärts Hörnerklang geschossen,
Mut'ger Augen lichter Schein;
Und das Wirren bunt und bunter
Wird ein magisch wilder Fluß,
In die schöne Welt hinunter
Lockt dich dieses Stromes Gruß.

Und ich mag mich nicht bewahren!
Weit von Euch treibt mich der Wind;
Auf dem Strome will ich fahren,
Von dem Glanze selig blind!
Tausend Stimmen lockend schlagen;
Hoch Aurora flammend weht;
Fahre zu! ich mag nicht fragen,
Wo die Fahrt zu Ende geht.

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Confirmed with Joseph Freiherrn von Eichendorff, Gedichte, Berlin, Verlag von M. Simion, 1841, page 3.


by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857)
1. Wanderers' song
Language: English 
Balmy airs approach, blue and flowing,
Spring, spring it soon shall be!
Toward the woods horn sounds are aimed,
Proudly the lights of the eyes shimmer,
And that confusion, festive and colorful,
Becomes a magic wild river
Into the pretty world below
The streams' greeting beckons you.

And I desire not my safety!
The wind drives me far from you,
I want to go on the stream,
Blessedly blinded by the radiance.
A thousand voices strongly beckoning,
Highly Aurora's flames sway:
Ever onward, I dare not ask
Where the journey will come to an end.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 by Rachel O'Connell, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

    Rachel O'Connell.  Contact: rachelloconnell (AT) gmail (DOT) com

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Translation of title "Frische Fahrt" = "Wanderers' song"


This text was added to the website: 2006-05-15
Line count: 16
Word count: 95

Translation © by Rachel O'Connell
2. Es wandelt, was wir schauen  [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Ehlert (1825 - 1884), "Es wandelt, was wir schauen", op. 28 (Fünf Lieder für gemischten Chor) no. 2, published 1862? [ mixed chorus a cappella ], Berlin, Trautwein? (only 4 and 5 are in Hofmeister)
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Es wandelt, was wir schauen,
Tag sinkt in's Abendrot,
Die Lust hat eig'nes Grauen,
Und alles hat den Tod.

In's Leben schleicht das Leiden
Sich [heimlich]1 wie ein Dieb,
Wir alle müssen scheiden
Von allem, was uns lieb.

Was gäb' es doch auf Erden,
Wer hielt' den Jammer aus,
Wer möcht' geboren werden,
Hielt'st Du nicht droben Haus!

Du bist's, der, was wir bauen,
Mild über uns zerbricht,
Daß wir den Himmel schauen --
Darum so klag' ich nicht.

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Confirmed with Joseph von Eichendorff, Sämtliche Gedichte und Versepen, Frankfurt am Main und Leipzig: Insel Verlag, 2001, page 291.

1 Berg: "leise"

by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857)
2. That which we see changes
Language: English 
That which we see changes,
Day sinks into the evening glow,
Joy contains its own horror,
And everything is destined to death.

Suffering creeps into life,
[Secretly]1 like a thief,
We must all part
From everything that we hold dear.

What would there be on earth,
Who could stand the misery,
Who would want to be born,
If Thou didst not manage everything from on high!

Thou art the one who gently over us
Breaks that which we build,
So that we may behold Heaven --
Therefore I do not complain.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2024 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):
"Ergebung" = "Submission"
"Es wandelt, was wir schauen" = "That which we see changes"

1 Berg: "Quietly"


This text was added to the website: 2024-07-19
Line count: 16
Word count: 91

Translation © by Sharon Krebs
3. Im Wald, im hellen Sonnenschein   [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Ehlert (1825 - 1884), "Im Wald, im hellen Sonnenschein ", op. 28 (Fünf Lieder für gemischten Chor) no. 3, published 1862? [ mixed chorus a cappella ], Berlin, Trautwein? (only 4 and 5 are in Hofmeister)
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)
3. 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
4. Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen  [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Ehlert (1825 - 1884), "Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen", op. 28 (Fünf Lieder für gemischten Chor) no. 4, published 1862 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], Berlin, Trautwein
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen,
Trompeten schmettern [drein]1;
Da tanzt [den]2 Hochzeitreigen
Die Herzallerliebste mein.

Das ist ein Klingen und Dröhnen,
[Von Pauken und Schalmei'n]3;
Dazwischen schluchzen und stöhnen
Die [guten]4 Engelein.

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Confirmed with Heinrich Heine, Buch der Lieder, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg, 1827, page 127.

1 Schumann: "darein"
2 Schumann: "wohl den"
3 Schumann: "Ein Pauken und ein Schalmei'n"
4 Schumann: "lieblichen"

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
4. There is a fluting and fiddling
Language: English 
There is a fluting and fiddling
With trumpets blaring in;
In a wedding dance dances
She who is my heart's whole love.

There is a ringing and roaring,
A drumming and sounding of shawms
In between which sob and moan
The lovely little angels.

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: 44

Translation © by Paul Hindemith
5. Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh'  [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Ehlert (1825 - 1884), "Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh'", op. 28 (Fünf Lieder für gemischten Chor) no. 5, published 1862 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], Berlin, Trautwein
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Über allen [Gipfeln]1
Ist Ruh',
In allen Wipfeln
Spürest du
Kaum einen Hauch;
Die [Vögelein]2 schweigen im Walde.
Warte nur, balde
Ruhest du auch.3

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Confirmed with Goethe's Werke. Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand. Erster Band. Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cotta'schen Buchhandlung. 1827, page 109; and with Goethe's Werke. Erster Band. Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J. G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung. 1815, page 99.

Note: in many older editions, the spelling of the capitalized word "über" becomes "Ueber", but this is often due to the printing process and not to rules of orthography, since the lower-case version is not "ueber", so we use "Über".

See also J.D. Falk's poem Unter allen Wipfeln ist Ruh.

1 Flügel, Gaugler, Hasse, Radecke: "Wipfeln" (according to the incipits given in Hofmeister) ; further changes may exist not noted above.
2 Greith, Schubert: "Vöglein"
3 Lachner adds 
Über allen Wipfeln
Ist Ruh',
Balde
Ruhest du auch.

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
5. Over all the peaks it is peaceful
Language: English 
Over all the peaks
it is peaceful,
in all the treetops
you feel
hardly a breath of wind;
the little birds are silent in the forest...
only wait - soon
you will rest as well.

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: 34

Translation © by Emily Ezust