Song of Chispa | There was a slovenly chap

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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Lied der Chispa

Language: German (Deutsch) after the Spanish (Español)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE

Chispa (Mezzosopran): 
 Es war ein Bruder Liederlich
 In Andalusiens Landen,
 Der sich auf Hau'n und Degenstich
 Wie keiner sonst verstanden.
 Halloh, halloh, mal so.

Soldaten:
 Halloh, halloh, mal so.

Chispa:
 In einem Spielhaus fand er dann
 Zur Nacht was ihn erboste,
 Chinilla nicht, sein Liebchen an,
 Wie sie mit Carlo koste
 [Hallo, hallo]¹, mal so.

Soldaten:
 Hallo, hallo, mal so.

Chispa:
 Der Carlo war ein Wetterstrahl,
 Aus Wolkenschacht geboren,
 Er sprang vom Stuhl und schlug den Stahl
 Dem Kömmling um die Ohren.
 Hallo, hallo, mal so.

Soldaten:
 Hallo, hallo, mal so.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ [sic]; the different writing of "hallo" from here on follows the score.

Text Authorship:

by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [an adaptation] [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Spanish (Español) by Pédro Calderón de la Barca y Henao (1600 - 1681), appears in El Alcalde de Zalamea
- Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Lied der Chispa", WoO. 96 no. 2 (1904), from Zwei Lieder aus "Der Richter von Zalamea", no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Cançó de Chispa", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Song of Chispa", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Chant de Chispa", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Alberto Pedrotti

This text was added to the website: 2003-10-19
Line count: 24
Word count: 62

Song of Chispa

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Chispa (Mezzosoprano) :
 There was a slovenly chap
 In the land of Andalusia,
 Who knew more about fencing and dagger stabs
 Than anyone else.
 Hello, hello, that’s how it was.

Soldiers :
 Hello, hello, that’s how it was.

Chispa :
 Then one night in a casino
 He discovered something that enraged him,
 Chinilla, his beloved, was not waiting for him,
 She was carrying on with Carlo.
 Hello, hello, that’s how it was.

Soldiers :
 Hello, hello, that’s how it was.

Chispa :
 Carlo was like a lightning bolt
 Born from a bank of clouds,
 He leapt from his stool and whacked his sword
 About the ears of this interloper.
 Hello, hello, that’s how it was.

Soldiers :
 Hello, hello, that’s how it was.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2014 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 Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation]
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Spanish (Español) by Pédro Calderón de la Barca y Henao (1600 - 1681), appears in El Alcalde de Zalamea
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-07-27
Line count: 24
Word count: 110