by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892)
Translation by Adolf Strodtmann (1829 - 1879)
The splendour falls on castle walls
Language: English
The splendour falls on castle walls And snowy summits old in story: The long light shakes across the lakes, And the wild cataract leaps in glory: Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. O hark, O hear how thin and clear, And thinner, clearer, farther going! O sweet and far from cliff and scar The horns of Elfland faintly blowing! Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying: Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. O love, they die in yon rich sky, They faint on hill or field or river: Our echoes roll from soul to soul And grow for ever and for ever. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, And answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
F. Delius sets stanzas 1-2
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesText Authorship:
- by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), no title, appears in The Princess, first published 1850 [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 Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, Sir (1883 - 1953), "The splendour falls", 1917, orchestrated 1934 [ voice and piano or orchestra ], from Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Nocturne", op. 31 no. 2 (1943), published 1944, first performed 1943 [ tenor, horn, and strings or piano ], from Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, no. 2, London : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Benjamin Burrows (1891 - 1966), "The splendour falls", c1912, published 1917 [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "The splendour falls on castle walls", stanzas 1-2 [ SATB chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Malcolm Forsyth (b. 1936), "Blow, bugle, blow", 2000, first performed 2000 [ SATB chorus and brass ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "The splendour falls", 1943, published 1944 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Robert Goldbeck (1839 - 1908), "The splendour falls on castle walls ", 1866 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), "The splendour falls", op. 20a no. 2, H. 80 no. 2 [ chorus ], from Songs from The Princess, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Dorothy Pilling (1910 - 1998), "The splendour falls" [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a score [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Blow, bugle, blow", op. 68 (1945) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "The splendour falls", c1905, published 1905 [ voice and piano ], first published in the May 1905 Vocalist, and later reissued in 1914 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Henry Walthew (1872 - 1951), "The splendour falls" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Wood (1866 - 1926), "The splendour falls", published 1927 [ high voice and piano ], from Five Songs for High Voice, no. 1, London: Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Adolf Strodtmann (1829 - 1879) , no title, appears in Lieder- und Balladenbuch amerikanischer und englischer Dichter der Gegenwart, in Lieder aus "Die Prinzessin", no. 5, first published 1862 ; composed by Heinrich Zöllner.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Jean-Pierre Granger) , "Nocturne", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- NYN Norwegian (Nynorsk) (Are Frode Søholt) , "Nattstemning", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Pablo Sabat) , "Nocturno"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 133
Es fällt der Strahl auf Burg und Thal
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Es fällt der Strahl auf Burg und Thal
Und schneeige Gipfel, reich an Sagen;
Viel' Lichter wehn auf blauen Seen,
Bergab die Wasserstürze jagen.
Blas, Hifthorn, blas, im Wiederhall erschallend,
Blas, Horn -- antwortet, Echos, hallend, hallend!
O horche schnell! wie laut und hell,
Nun schwächer, sanfter, ferner klingend;
O, süß und lang von Klipp' und Hang
Die Hörner Elflands, leise singend!
Horch! durch die finstern Schluchten zieht es schallend,
Blas, Horn -- antwortet, Echos, hallend, hallend!
O Lieb, der Klang verzittert bang,
Dem letzten Ton bald magst du lauschen.
Wie tönend Erz, von Herz zu Herz
Zieht ewig unsrer Liebe Rauschen.
Blas Hifthorn, blas, im Wiederhall erschallend --
Antwortet, Echos, leis verhallend, hallend!
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesText Authorship:
- by Adolf Strodtmann (1829 - 1879), no title, appears in Lieder- und Balladenbuch amerikanischer und englischer Dichter der Gegenwart, in Lieder aus "Die Prinzessin", no. 5, first published 1862 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), no title, appears in The Princess, first published 1850
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Heinrich Zöllner (1854 - 1941), "Elflands Hörner", op. 22 (Fünf Lieder aus "Die Prinzessin" von A. Tennyson für 1 mittlere Stimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 4, published 1884 [ medium voice and piano ], Leipzig, Siegel [sung text checked 1 time]
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2012-08-16
Line count: 18
Word count: 118