Gute Nacht, mein Kind! | Guten Abend, gut Nacht | Guten Abend, gute Nacht

Guten Abend, gute Nacht

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA POR SPA

Guten Abend, [gute]¹ Nacht, 
Mit Rosen bedacht,
Mit Näglein besteckt,
Schlupf' unter die Deck,
Morgen früh, [wenns]² Gott will,
Wirst du wieder geweckt.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• J. Brahms • C. Ives

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Achim von Arnim und Clemens Brentano, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Band 3, Stuttgart, 1979, page 304.

¹ Brahms: "gut' "
² Brahms: "wenn"

Note provided by Laura Prichard: Brahms gentle Wiegenlied, op. 49, no. 4, was dedicated to his youthful [girl]friend, Bertha Faber, née Porubsky. Although it was composed to celebrate the birth of her second son, it may contain a touching, bittersweet farewell to Bertha herself, who became a regular alto chorister in the women’s choir Brahms conducted in Hamburg before her marriage. Bertha and the twenty-six-year-old Brahms exchanged many letters, and he was a frequent [chaperoned] dinner guest in her home in 1859. This cradle song’s famous melody was intended to act as a harmony part to the Austrian duet "S’Is Anderscht" (1842) by Alexander Baumann (1814-1857), which Johannes and Bertha sang together in her family parlour. Baumann’s melody is preserved in the piano introduction: its original text is "Du moanst wol di Liab last si zwinga" [Do you think that love can be forced], and continues "Zatrist wo a Bleamle, steht’s nimmermer auf" [if you trample a flower it’ll never rise again]. Brahms sent the published lullaby to Bertha’s husband in Vienna, confessing "Frau Bertha will realize that I wrote the Wiegenlied for her little one. She will find it quite in order that while she is singing Hans to sleep, a love song is being sung to her."

Text Authorship:

from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Gute Nacht, mein Kind!", appears in Des Knaben Wunderhorn, first published 1808 [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 Carl, Graf Nostitz , "Guten Abend, gut Nacht", published 1886 [ voice and piano ], from Fünfzig Lieder, no. 16, Prag, Hoffmann [sung text not yet checked]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Wiegenlied", op. 49 (Fünf Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 4 (1868), published 1868, first performed 1869 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Simrock
- View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
by Charles Edward Ives (1874 - 1954), "Wiegenlied", 1900?
- View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

SPA Spanish (Español) (unknown or anonymous translator)

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-02-07
Line count: 6
Word count: 25