Good evening, good night | Good evening, good night

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from Volkslieder (Folksongs)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Wiegenlied

(Sung text for setting by J. Brahms)

See original

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA POR SPA

Guten Abend, gut'  Nacht, 
Mit Rosen bedacht,
Mit Näglein besteckt,
Schlupf' unter die Deck,
Morgen früh, wenn Gott will,
Wirst du wieder geweckt.

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."

Composition:

Johannes Brahms

Text Authorship:

from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Gute Nacht, mein Kind!", appears in Des Knaben Wunderhorn, first published 1808

See other settings of this text.

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Goedenavond, goedenacht", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Good evening, good night", copyright ©
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Bonsoir, bonne nuit", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Buonasera, buonanotte", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
POR Portuguese (Português) (Axel Bergstedt) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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

Good evening, good night

(Sung text translation for setting by J. Brahms)

See original

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Good evening, good night,
Bedecked with roses,
Covered with carnations,
Slip under the blanket
Early tomorrow, God willing,
Will you be woken again.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Gute Nacht, mein Kind!", appears in Des Knaben Wunderhorn, first published 1808
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This text was added to the website: 2003-11-21
Line count: 6
Word count: 23