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Hat einmal ein Mädel die Muhme gefragt, Was Liebe denn eigentlich sei? Da machte die Alte ein pfiffig Gesicht Und lachte so eigen dabei. "Die Liebe? Das ist ein verschlossener Schrein, Sieht außen gar unschuldig aus, Doch hebst du im Fürwitz den Deckel, mein Kind, Springt hurtig ein Teufelchen 'raus." Das Mägdlein ist 'gangen, es ließ ihm der Spruch Der Alten nicht Frieden noch Ruh', Stand bald mit dem lustigen Teufelein Im Kästchen auf "Du und Du."
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Anna Ritter, Gedichte, Neunte Auflage, Stuttgart und Berlin: J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger, 1900, page 129.
Text Authorship:
- by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Pythia", appears in Gedichte, in 2. Vermischte Gedichte, no. 37 [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 Adolf Emge , "Hat einmal ein Mädel die Muhme gefragt", op. 11 ([Drei] Lieder für 1 mittlere Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 2, published 1900 [ medium voice and piano ], Weimar, Gosewisch [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hans Hermann (1870 - 1931), "Pythia", published 1898 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Gedichte für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 5, Bremen, Praeger & Meier [sung text not yet checked]
- by Otto Hess (1871 - 1920), "Pythia", op. 10 (Zwei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2b, published 1898 [ voice and piano ], Stuttgart, Leipzig: Carl Grüninger ; we have added the letter 'b' to the number because a different song was used for this position in the same set [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Victor Hollaender (1866 - 1940), "Pythia", published 1900 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 3, Berlin, Wernthal [sung text not yet checked]
- by Max Reger (1873 - 1916), "Pythia", op. 23 (Vier Lieder) no. 2 (1898) [ high voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Johannes Reichert (1876 - 1942), "Pythia", op. 26 (Frauenchöre) no. 4, published 1906-1913 [ women's chorus a cappella ], Leipzig, Kahnt Nachfolger [sung text not yet checked]
- by Margarete Schweikert (1887 - 1957), "Pythia", 1905? [ voice and piano ], unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Stubbe (1866 - 1938), "Pythia", op. 43 no. 5 [ voice and piano ], in the collection Lieder siebenbürgischer Komponisten, Book I [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-06
Line count: 12
Word count: 82
A maiden once asked her aunt: What is love, actually? The old lady made a canny face And laughed so peculiarly the while. "Love? It is a sealed shrine That looks quite innocent from the outside, But if you lift the lid in curiosity, my child, A little devil will leap out swiftly. The maiden went away, what the old lady had said Left her neither peace nor rest, And soon she and the merry little devil In the box were intimately acquainted.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesTranslations of title(s):
"Hat einmal ein Mädel die Muhme gefragt" = "A maiden once asked her aunt"
"Pythia" = "Pythia"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 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 Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Pythia", appears in Gedichte, in 2. Vermischte Gedichte, no. 37
This text was added to the website: 2023-10-21
Line count: 12
Word count: 86