Laß dich nur nichts nicht [dauern]1
Mit [Trauern]2,
Sei stille! 
Wie Gott es fügt,
So sei vergnügt
Mein Wille.

Was willst du heute sorgen
Auf morgen?
Der Eine
steht allem [für]3;
Der gibt auch dir
das Deine.

Sei nur in allem Handel
Ohn Wandel,
Steh feste! 
Was Gott beschleußt,
Das ist und heißt
das Beste. 4

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Hiller: "dauren"
² Hiller: "trauren" (following the original spelling)
³ Hiller: "vor"
⁴ Brahms, Gál, and Mendelssohn: "Amen!"

Notes provided by Laura Prichard: As with the great German Requiem, Brahms started composing music for his Geistliches Lied, op. 30 in his teens. Brahms’ father was a double-bass player who took him along to Hamburg bar gigs as a child, where he learned to improvise and compose. From the age of fifteen, he was a professional piano accompanist for the virtuoso violinist Ede (Eduard) Reményi; he continued as a professional accompanist in his early twenties, working with violist Joseph Joachim and trading weekly "contrapuntal studies" with him. Geistliches Lied dates from the beginning of this exchange (1856), although Joachim was a bit shocked by its "harsh places" [dissonances in the Amen] and "rough harmony [the double canon texture]."

The text of this double canon "at the ninth" for four-part chorus is a seventeenth-century German poem ("Lass dich nur nichts bedauern") by Paul Flemming (1609-1640), a doctor who finished his training in Hamburg, Brahms’ hometown. The organ prelude combines quotes from the finale of Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 and an organ fantasy of his wife Clara Wieck Schumann, whom Brahms first met at age twenty in Düsseldorf. The consoling words may reference Robert Schumann’s failed drowning attempt and two years of his confinement in a sanatorium, since Brahms acted as Clara’s messenger, and she was not allowed to see her husband again until two days after his death. These experiences left an impression on all of Brahms’ music from 1854-1856. Robert frequently requested that visitors read to him from the Bible: Brahms’ friend Rudolf von der Leyen reported that "this desire was understood by [Schumann’s] doctors to be a new symptom of his mental illness and was, for the most part, denied." However, Brahms snuck in a copy, and he read to his mentor from Luther’s translation. The two canons coincide at the texts "Sei stille" (be calm) and "Steh feste" (be steadfast).

The text shown is a variant of another text. [ View differences ]
It is based on

• a text in German (Deutsch) by Paul Fleming (1609 - 1640), no title
  • 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 Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Geistliches Lied", op. 30 (1856) [ SATB chorus and organ ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Heinrich Elkamp (1812 - 1868), "Spruch", op. 5 (12 Lieder), Heft 2 no. 11, published 1834 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Cranz [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hans Gál (1890 - 1987), "Trost", op. 32 no. 2 (1928), published 1929 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ], from Fünf ernste Gesänge, no. 2, Tischer & Jagenberg, Köln [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ferdinand von Hiller (1811 - 1885), "Geistliches Lied", op. 71 no. 1, published [1858] [ SATB chorus ], from Sechs geistliche Gesänge für gemischten Chor, no. 1, Leipzig, C.F.W. Siegel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), "Pilgerspruch", op. 8 (Zwölf Gesänge [nos. 2, 3, and 12 are by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel]) no. 5, published 1828 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Max Reger (1873 - 1916), "Laß dich nur nichts nicht dauern", op. 137 no. 9 (1914) [ voice and piano or organ or harmonium ], from Zwölf geistliche Lieder, no. 9 [sung text checked 1 time]

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) (Wim Reedijk) , "Blijf toch niet steeds maar vragen", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Let nothing indeed make you endure grief", copyright © 2006
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• SPA Spanish (Español) (Alfonso Sebastián) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 56

Wil toch door geen gebeuren
Gaan treuren.
Niet klagen!
Hoe God het doet,
Zo is het goed
Te dragen.
 
Wat wil je nu al zorgen
Voor morgen?
De Ene
Is allen trouw;
Die geeft ook jou
Geen stenen1.
 
Wees altijd zeer betrouwbaar,
Voorspelbaar,
Te testen!
Wat God beschikt,
Dat is, gewikt,
Het beste.