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Es gibt so [wunderweiße]1 Nächte, drin alle Dinge Silber sind. Da schimmert mancher Stern so lind, als ob er fromme Hirten brächte zu einem neuen Jesuskind. Weit wie mit dichtem Demantstaube bestreut, erscheinen Flur und Flut, und in die Herzen, traumgemut, steigt ein kapellenloser Glaube, der leise seine Wunder tut.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Die Gedichte, Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1997, pages 82-83.
1 Marx: "wundervolle"Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Traumgekrönt, in Träumen, no. 21 [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 Georg Friedrich Alms (1878 - 1972), "Es gibt so wunderweiße Nächte", from 2 Adventslieder, no. 1, Nachlaß in der Schleswig Holsteinischen Landesbibliothek [sung text not yet checked]
- by Zoltan Barabas (b. 1965), "Es gibt so wunderweiße Nächte" [ voice, harp, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann (Hans) Bauernfeind (1908 - 1985), "Es gibt so wunderweiße Nächte", published 1933 [ voice and piano ], from Vier Lieder, no. 1, Wien, Leipzig : Europäischer Verlag [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fidelio Friedrich Finke (1891 - 1968), "Es gibt so wunderweiße Nächte...", published 1931 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder, no. 2, Wien, Leipzig : Universal-Edition [sung text not yet checked]
- by Siegfried Fournes (1896 - 1932), "Es gibt so wunderweiße Nächte", copyright © 1978 [ voice and piano ], from Gesamtausgabe der Lieder von Siegfried Fournes, no. 8, Steinkirchen : G. Fournes [sung text not yet checked]
- by Albrecht Haaf (b. 1953), "Wunderweiße Nächte", copyright © 2014 [ mixed chorus, flute and piano ], from Wunderweiße Nächte, no. 2, Schott Music [sung text not yet checked]
- by Berthold Kloss (b. 1958), "Es gibt so wunderweiße Nächte…", 2007 [ voice and piano ], from Der Weihnachtsliederbär, In; Stefan Gros, Christoph Heimbucher, Berthold Kloß, "Der Weihnachtsliederbär", Kassel : Bärenreiter-Verlag, 2007 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph Marx (1882 - 1964), "Traumgekrönt", 1910, published 1912 [ high voice and piano ], in Lieder und Gesänge, II. Folge, Nr.25 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jörg Ernst Weigand (b. 1940), "Wunderweiße Nächte", published 2023 [ voice and piano ], from Traumtage, p.machinery [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eric Weisheit (b. 1987), "Es gibt so wunderweiße Nächte", 2018 [ men's chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Harry Ziems , "Es gibt so wunderweiße Nächte", from Der Jahreskreis, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Bertram Kottmann , "Crowned with dreams", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission ; composed by Gary Bachlund.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Couronné de rêves", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2007-06-08
Line count: 10
Word count: 51
There are such [wondrously white]1 nights, in which all things are silver. Within them, many a star shimmers so gently as if it were leading pious shepherds to a new Christchild. Far away, as if bestrewn with dense diamond dust, meadows and rivers appear, and into [human] hearts, as if in a dream, a chapel-less faith enters, which quietly performs its miracles.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesTranslations of titles:
"Es gibt so wunderweiße Nächte" = "There are such wondrously white nights"
"Traumgekrönt" = "Crowned with dreams"
"Wunderweiße Nächte" = "Wondrously white nights"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2026 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Traumgekrönt, in Träumen, no. 21
This text was added to the website: 2026-06-17
Line count: 10
Word count: 63