by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858)
John Anderson, my jo, John
Language: Scottish (Scots)
Our translations: FRE
John Anderson, my jo, John, When we were first acquent, Your locks were like the raven, Your bonie brow was brent; But now your brow is beld, John, Your locks are like the snaw; But blessings on your frosty pow, John Anderson, my jo! John Anderson, my jo, John, We clamb the hill thegither, And mony a cantie day, John, We've had wi' ane anither: Now we maun totter down, John, But hand in hand we'll go, And sleep thegither at the foot, John Anderson, my jo!
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• D. Arditti • J. Haydn • J. Haydn • H. Pierson • D. ShostakovichAbout the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 223.
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "John Anderson, my jo" [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 David Arditti (b. 1964), "John Anderson", op. 1 no. 8, first performed 1994, from Burns Songs, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "John Anderson, my jo", JHW. XXXII/5 no. 390, Hob. XXXIa no. 2bis [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "John Anderson", JHW. XXXII/1 no. 2, Hob. XXXIa no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910 - 1998), "John Anderson, my jo" [ voice and piano ], from Five Burns Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henry Hugo Pierson (1816 - 1873), "John Anderson", published 1842 [ voice and piano ], from 6 Lieder von Freiligrath nach R. Burns, no. 4, Leipzig, Kistner, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906 - 1975), "When we were first acquent", 1943, first performed 1944 [ voice(s) and orchestra ], from Eight British and American Folk Songs, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "John Anderson, My Jo", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], London: G. Ricordi & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876) , "John Anderson" ; composed by John Böie, Martin Jacobi, Heinrich August Marschner, Fredrik Pacius, Henry Hugo Pierson, as Henry Hugo Pearson, Karl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke, Nicolai von Wilm.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) , "John Anderson" ; composed by Adolf Jensen, Theobald Kretschmann, Henry Hugo Pierson, Heinrich Schmidt, Robert Schumann.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Paul Hermann Franz Graener.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by August Bungert.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Heinrich Julius Heintze (1811 - 1860) , "John Anderson", appears in Lieder und Balladen des Schotten Robert Burns ; composed by Johannes Dürrner.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Samuil Yakovlevich Marschak (1887 - 1964) ; composed by Georgiy Vasil'yevich Sviridov.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Jan Andersen"
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Valter Juva) , "John Anderson"
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "John Anderson, mon chéri", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (József Lévay) , "John Anderson"
- POL Polish (Polski) (Jan Kasprowicz) , "Dżon Anderson, ty mój!", Warsaw, first published 1907
- RUS Russian (Русский) (Mikhail Larionovich Mikhailov) , no title, first published 1856
Researcher for this page: Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 87
John Anderson, mein Lieb, John!
Language: German (Deutsch) after the Scottish (Scots)
John Anderson, mein Lieb, [John]1! Wir haben uns gesehn, Wie rabenschwarz dein Haar, [John]1, Die Stirne glatt und schön: Nun Glätte nicht, noch Locke, [John]1, Der schönen Stirne blieb: Doch segne Gott dein schneeig Haupt, John Anderson, mein Lieb! John Anderson, mein Lieb, [John]1! Wir klommen froh bergauf, Und manchen heitern Tag, [John]1, Begrüssten wir im Lauf. Nun abwärts Hand in Hand, [John]1, Froh wie's bergauf uns trieb, Und unten selges Schlafengehn, John Anderson, mein Lieb!
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with Robert Burns’ Gedichte, deutsch von W. Gerhard, Leipzig: Verlag von Joh. Ambr. Barth., 1840, page 67
1 omitted by Jensen, Pierson, SchumannText Authorship:
- by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858), "John Anderson" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "John Anderson, my jo"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Adolf Jensen (1837 - 1879), "John Anderson, mein Lieb!", op. 49 no. 5, published 1874 [ voice and piano ], from Sieben Lieder von Robert Burns, no. 5, Breslau, Hainauer [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Theobald Kretschmann (1850 - 1919), "John Anderson", op. 8 no. 3, published 1880 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 3, Wien, (Buchholz & Diebel Sort.) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henry Hugo Pierson (1816 - 1873), "John Anderson, mein Lieb", op. 7 (6 Lieder) no. 4 (1842) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Maria) Heinrich Schmidt (1809 - 1870), "John Anderson, mein Lieb", op. 1 (12 Lieder im Volkstone) no. 12, published 1842 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Hofmeister; note: this may be the wrong text for this title [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "John Anderson", op. 67 (Romanzen und Balladen für Chor (Heft 1)) no. 5 (1849), published 1849 [ SATB chorus ], Leipzig, Whistling [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "John Anderson", op. posth. 145 (Romanzen und Balladen für Chor (Heft 3)) no. 4 (1849), published 1860 [ SATB chorus ], Elberfeld, Arnold [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "John Anderson, mijn vriend!", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Dr. Gerrit den Hartogh , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2004-07-03
Line count: 16
Word count: 87