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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
Translation © by Robert Bly (b. 1926)
In diesem Dorfe steht das letzte Haus
Language: German (Deutsch)
In diesem Dorfe steht das letzte Haus so einsam wie das letzte Haus der Welt. Die Straße, die das kleine Dorf nicht hält, geht langsam weiter in die Nacht hinaus. Das kleine Dorf ist nur ein Übergang zwischen zwei Weiten, ahnungsvoll und bang, ein Weg an Häusern hin statt eines Stegs. Und die das Dorf verlassen, wandern lang, und viele sterben vielleicht unterwegs.
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Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), appears in Das Stundenbuch, in 2. Das Buch von der Pilgerschaft, no. 18, first published 1901 [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 Juan Allende-Blin (b. 1928), "In diesem Dorfe", 1951, first performed 1963 [ soprano and piano ], from Drei Rilke-Lieder für Sopran und Klavier, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Dezső D'Antalffy (1885 - 1945), "In diesem Dorfe steht das letzte Haus", 1923 [ medium voice and piano ], from Lieder aus dem Stunden Buche von Rainer Maria Rilke [sung text not yet checked]
- by Heinrich Joseph Hartl (b. 1953), "In diesem Dorfe steht das letzte Haus", op. 12 no. 1 (2004) [ mixed chorus ], from Drei Gedichte aus dem Stundenbuch, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Armin Knab (1881 - 1951), "Dorf an der Straße", published 1961 [ voice and piano ], from 7 Lieder, no. 7, Frankfurt/M.: Peters [sung text not yet checked]
- by Augustinus Franz Kropfreiter (1936 - 2003), "In diesem Dorfe steht das letzte Haus", 1963, copyright © 1966 [ soprano, flute, viola and violoncello ], from In memoriam, no. 5, Wien [etc.] : Doblinger [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ina Lohr (1903 - 1983), "In diesem Dorfe steht das letzte Haus", 1927, published 1945? [ soprano and piano or oboe, english horn, bassoon, harp and strings ], from Von der Pilgerschaft, no. 1, from Von der Pilgerschaft for voice and piano, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Philipp Schoeller (1882 - 1977), "In diesem Dorfe", copyright © 1942 [ voice and piano ], from 5 Gedichte aus dem Stundenbuch von R. M. Rilke, no. 1, Wien : Universal Edition [sung text not yet checked]
- by Tony Stern , "In diesem Dorfe", op. 1 (Sechs Lieder) no. 4, published c1910 [ voice and piano ], Zürich : Hug [sung text not yet checked]
- by Kurt Weill (1900 - 1950), "In diesem Dorfe steht das letzte Haus", 1921, copyright © 1992 [ voice and piano ], from Rilkelieder , no. 2, Valley Forge : European American Music Corporation [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julius Weismann (1879 - 1950), "Das Dorf", op. 82 (Drei Lieder aus dem Stundenbuch von Rainer Maria Rilke) no. 2 (1921) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Hermann Wunsch (1884 - 1954), "In diesem Dorfe" [ voice and orchestra ], from Rilke-Lieder, no. 4, Rob Forberg Musikverlag GmbH & Co [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Robert Bly (b. 1926) , "In this town the last house stands", appears in Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, first published 1981, copyright © by Harper and Row, (re)printed on this website with kind permission ; composed by Mark Abel, Bradley A. Bombardier.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Walter A. Aue) , "A final house stands at this hamlet's site", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Il villaggio", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-07-27
Line count: 9
Word count: 63
In this town the last house stands
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
In this town the last house stands as lonely as if it were the last house in the world. The highway, which the tiny town is not able to stop, slowly goes deeper out into the night. The tiny town is only a passing-over place, worried and afraid, between two huge spaces -- a path running past houses instead of a bridge. And those who leave the town wander a long way off and many perhaps die on the road.
Permission granted for use by the LiederNet Archive stemming from agreement on recording between Mark Abel and Harper and Row.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Bly (b. 1926), "In this town the last house stands", appears in Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, first published 1981, copyright © by Harper and Row, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), appears in Das Stundenbuch, in 2. Das Buch von der Pilgerschaft, no. 18, first published 1901
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Mark Abel (b. 1948), "In this town the last house stands", 2004, published 2004 [ soprano and piano ], from Five Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, no. 1, Oceangoing Music (ASCAP) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Bradley A. Bombardier (1980 - 2019), "In this town the last house stands" [ high voice and instrumental ensemble ], from Four Rilke songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-02-18
Line count: 9
Word count: 79