Am Barbaratage holt' ich Drei Zweiglein vom Kirschenbaum, Die setzt' ich in eine Schale: Drei Wünsche sprach ich im Traum. Der erste, daß einer mich werbe, Der zweite, daß er noch jung, Der dritte, daß er auch habe Des Geldes wohl genung. Weihnachten vor der [Mette]1 Zwei [Stöcklein nur blühten]2 zur Frist; -- Ich weiß einen armen Gesellen, Den nähm' ich, wie er ist.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Gedichte von Martin Greif, Zweite stark vermehrte Auflage, Stuttgart, Verlag der J. G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1881, page 207.
Note (provided by Johann Winkler): On Santa Barbara's day (December 4th), the custom in parts of Germany and Austria was to cut small branches from cherry trees and put them into water; if they blossomed on Christmas eve (as they usually did), that would be considered a good omen for the following year; unwed young women especially might identify different branches with eligible young men and expect the one whose branch blossomed first to marry them the following year.
1 Faisst: "Metten"2 Faisst: "Stöcklein blühten"
Text Authorship:
- by Friedrich Hermann Frey (1839 - 1911), as Martin Greif, "Barbarazweige", appears in Gedichte, in Balladen und Romanzen [later, Romanzen und Balladen] [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 Clara Faisst (1872 - 1948), "Am Barbaratage", published [1896] [ voice and piano ], Neu-Ruppin, Karl Michaëlis [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Erik Meyer-Helmund (1861 - 1932), "Am Barbaratag", op. 20 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1886 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Ries & Erler [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl, Graf Nostitz , "Barbarazweige", published 1892 [ voice and piano ], from Zwölf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 2, Prag, Hoffmann's Wwe. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (1824 - 1910), "Barbarazweige", op. 207 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1890 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Gebr. Reinecke [sung text not yet checked]
- by Margarete Schweikert (1887 - 1957), "Barbarazweige", 1909? [ voice and piano ], unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
- by Felix Paul Weingartner (1863 - 1942), "Barbarazweige", op. 32 no. 2 (1904) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Max Zenger (1837 - 1911), "Barbarazweige", op. 43 no. 4, published 1883 [ four-part women's chorus a cappella ], from Schlichte Liedlein für vierstimmigen Frauenchor, no. 4, Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2004-05-09
Line count: 12
Word count: 63