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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

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by Johann Baptist Mayrhofer (1787 - 1836)
Translation © by Emily Ezust

Nachtstück
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA SPA
[Wann]1 über Berge sich der Nebel breitet,
Und Luna mit Gewölken kämpft,
So nimmt der Alte seine [Harf']2, und schreitet,
Und singt waldeinwärts und gedämpft:
      "Du heil'ge Nacht!
      Bald ist's vollbracht.
      Bald schlaf ich ihn
      Den langen Schlummer,
      Der mich erlöst 
      Von [jedem]3 Kummer."
   Die grünen Bäume rauschen dann,
   Schlaf süß du guter alter Mann;
   Die Gräser lispeln wankend fort,
   Wir decken seinen Ruheort;
   Und mancher [traute]4 Vogel ruft,
   O [laßt]5 ihn ruh'n in Rasengruft! -

Der Alte horcht, der Alte schweigt -
Der Tod hat sich zu ihm geneigt.

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte von Johann Mayrhofer. Wien. Bey Friedrich Volke. 1824, page 12.

1 Schubert: "Wenn"
2 Schubert: "Harfe"
3 Schubert: "allem"
4 Schubert: "liebe"
5 Schubert (Alte Gesamtausgabe): "laß"

Text Authorship:

  • by Johann Baptist Mayrhofer (1787 - 1836), "Nachtstück" [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 Franz Wilhelm Abt (1819 - 1885), "Nachtstück", op. 148 (Drei Gesänge für vierstimmigen Männerchor) no. 1, published 1857 [ ttbb chorus a cappella ], Braunschweig: C. Weinholtz [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Nachtstück", op. 36 (Zwei Lieder) no. 2, D 672 (1819), published 1825 [ voice, piano ], Cappi und Comp., VN 60, Wien [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Nocturn", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Nachtstuk", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Nocturne", copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Nocturne", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Pupillo) (Claretta Manara) , "Notturno", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Juan Henríquez Concepción) , "Nocturno", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 94

Nocturne
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
When over the mountains mist is spread,
and Luna battles against the clouds,
then the old man takes his harp and strides
toward the forest, singing in a subdued voice:

"You holy night:
soon it will be over,
soon I shall sleep the long sleep
that will free me from every torment."

The green trees then murmur:
"Sleep sweetly, you good, old man..."
The grasses whisper as they wave:
"We will cover his place of rest..."

And many a lovely bird calls:
"O let him rest in his grassy tomb!"
The old man hears, the old man is silent;
[for] Death has [now] leaned toward him.

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.
    licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Baptist Mayrhofer (1787 - 1836), "Nachtstück"
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 106

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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