Der Mond kommt still gegangen
Mit seinem [goldnen Schein]1,
Da schläft [in]2 holdem Prangen 
Die müde Erde ein.

Im Traum die Wipfel weben,
Die Quellen rauschen sacht;
Singende Engel durchschweben
Die [blaue]3 Sternennacht

Und auf den Lüften schwanken
Aus manchem treuen Sinn
Viel tausend Liebesgedanken
Über [die]4 Schläfer hin.

[Und]5 drunten im [Thale, da funkeln]6
Die Fenster von Liebchens Haus;
Ich aber [blicke]7 im Dunkeln
Still in die [Welt]8 hinaus.

C. Schumann sets stanzas 1, 3-4

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Emanuel Geibel, Gedichte, vierte Auflage, Berlin: Verlag von Alexander Duncker, 1845, page 18.

Note: in Lachner's score, the first word of stanza 4 is "Da" but becomes "Und" in the repetition.

¹ Bernoully: "holden Schein"; Thuille: "Silberschein"
² Grimm: "mit"
³ Würst: "laue"
⁴ Würst: "den"
⁵ Lachner: "Da"
⁶ Kinkel: "Thale funkeln", Umlauft: "Tal, da funkeln"
⁷ Thuille: "blick'"
⁸ Umlauft: "Nacht"

Text Authorship:

• by Emanuel von Geibel (1815 - 1884), "Nachtlied", appears in Jugendgedichte, in 1. Erstes Buch, in Lübeck und Bonn [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 Wilhelm Baumgartner (1820 - 1867), "Nachtlied", op. 2 (Sechs 4 stimmige Lieder für Sopran und Alt) no. 1 (1842) [ vocal quartet (sopranos and altos) ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Caroline Luise Agnes Bernouilly, née Mindt (1825 - 1902), "Nachtlied", published 1873 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Carl Paez [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hermann Finzenhagen (1825 - 1914), "Nachtlied", op. 3 (Vier Lieder für Sopran (oder Tenor) mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1856 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Magdeburg, Heinrichshofen's Verlag [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ernst Paul Flügel (1844 - 1912), "Nachtlied", op. 3 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1867 [ voice and piano ], Greifswald, Verlag der Academischen Buchhandlung (and later: Leipzig, Leuckart, 1876) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Franz (1815 - 1892), "Nachtlied", op. 28 (Sechs Gesänge) no. 3, published 1857 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Whistling [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884 - 1920), "Nachtlied", A. 28 (1912), published 1984 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Julius Otto Grimm (1827 - 1903), "Nachtlied", op. 15 (Sechs Lieder) no. 5, published 1868 [ low voice and piano ], Leipzig: J. Rieter-Biedermann [sung text checked 1 time]
• by (Johan) Andreas Hallén (1846 - 1925), "Nachtlied", op. 13 no. 1 [ soprano and piano ], from Visor för en Sopranstämma med Pianoforte, no. 1, also set in Swedish (Svenska) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alfred Heitsch (1844 - 1885), "Nachtlied", op. 5 (Sechs Lieder mit Pianoforte) no. 6, published 1884 [ high voice and piano ], Dresden, Hoffarth [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Hofmann , "Nachtlied", published 1899 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 3, Berlin, Ries & Erler [sung text not yet checked]
• by Adolf Jensen (1837 - 1879), "Nachtlied", op. 28 (Acht Lieder von E. Geibel) no. 8, published 1865 [ SATB quartet ], Leipzig, Peters ; note: this may be the wrong text for this title [sung text not yet checked]
• by Werner (Erich) Josten (1885 - 1963), "Mondesstille", published 1926, from Fünf Lieder, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johanna Kinkel (1810 - 1858), "Nachtlied", op. 7 (Sechs Lieder) no. 1 (1838), published [1838] [ voice and piano ], confirmed with Meine Lieder. Den Freunden aufgezeichnet, Berlin, 1861, Verlag der Königlichen Geheimen Ober-Hofbuchdruckerei, page 49 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by R. von Knebel-Döberitz , "Der Mond kommt still gegangen", published 1880 [ vocal duet for 2 sopranos with piano ], from Zwei Duette für zwei Soprane mit Pianoforte, no. 1, Berlin, Bahn [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friederich Ernst Koch (1862 - 1927), "Nachtlied", op. 6 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 3, published 1891 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Marie Henriette König (1831 - 1850), "Nachtlied", op. 10 no. 4, published 1850 [ voice and piano ], from Herbstviolen : fünf Lieder, no. 4, Dresden: Brauer [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Paul Lachner (1803 - 1890), "Nachtlied" [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder nach Gedichten von Emanuel Geibel, no. 3, MS in Bayerische Staatsbibliothek [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Eduard Lassen (1830 - 1904), "Nachtlied", op. 92 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 1, published 1893 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Junne [sung text not yet checked]
• by Edward Alexander MacDowell (1860 - 1908), "Nachtlied", op. 12 (Zwei Lieder) no. 1, published 1885 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Julius Joseph Maier (1821 - 1889), "Nachtlied", op. 2 (Sechs Gesänge) no. 6, published 1848 [ SATB quartet ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Major , "Nachtlied", op. 6 ([Vier] Lieder für Sopran oder Tenor mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1891 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Hannover, Nagel Verlag [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ernst Markees (1863 - 1939), "Nachtlied", op. 5 (Fünf Gesänge) no. 5, published 1894 [ voice and piano ], Berlin: Ries & Erler [sung text not yet checked]
• by Erik Meyer-Helmund (1861 - 1932), "Der Mond kommt still gegangen", op. 31 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 2, published 1887 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Rahter [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Joseph) Joachim Raff (1822 - 1882), "Der Mond kommt still gegangen", op. 98 no. 19 (1855-63), from Sanges-Frühling, no. 19 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by (Joseph) Joachim Raff (1822 - 1882), "Der Mond kommt still gegangen", WoO. 20 no. 8 (<<1855) [ voice and piano ], from Todte Liebe, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Benedikt Randhartinger (1802 - 1893), "Nachtlied" [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Wilhelm Rust (1822 - 1892), "Nachtlied", op. 47 (Drei Gesänge für Männerchor) no. 3, published 1891 [ men's chorus a cappella ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hans Michael Schletterer (1824 - 1893), "Nachtlied", op. 35a (Sechs Lieder für Alt mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 1, published 1877 [ alto and piano ], Stuttgart, Ebner; this opus was used by another publisher in 1879 so we have added an 'a' to it [sung text not yet checked]
• by Clara Schumann (1819 - 1896), "Der Mond kommt still gegangen", op. 13 no. 4 (1840-3), published 1844, stanzas 1,3-4 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Lieder, no. 4, Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ludwig Wilhelm Andreas Maria Thuille (1861 - 1907), "Nachtlied", 1877 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Friedrich Hieronymus Truhn (1811 - 1886), "Nachtlied", op. 64 no. 3, published 1844 [ voice and piano ], from Ein Liebes-Roman in zwölf Liedern. Poesien von Geibel, Heine und A. , no. 3, Magdeburg, Heinrichshofen's Verlag [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Umlauft (1853 - 1934), "Nachtlied", op. 1 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1879 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Josef Wagenbrenner , " Nachtlied", op. 6 (Vier Männerchöre) no. 2, published 1900 [ ttbb chorus ], Leipzig: Leuckart [sung text not yet checked]
• by E. Walter , "Nachtlied", op. 18 (Drei Lieder für Alt oder Bariton mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1883 [ alto or baritone and piano ], Baden-Baden, Sommermeyer [sung text not yet checked]
• by Rudolf Wurmb (1842 - 1907), "Mondnacht", op. 3 (Zwölf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte), Heft 1 no. 1, published 1883 [ voice and piano ], Wien, Wetzler [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard Ferdinand Würst (1824 - 1881), "Lied", op. 9 (Sechs deutsche Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 1 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Johann Baptist Zerlett (1859 - 1935), "Nachtlied", op. 38 (Drei Lieder im Volkston für Männerchor) no. 2, published 1892 [ men's chorus ], Frankfurt a/M., Steyl & Thomas [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Andreas Hallén.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De maan komt stil gevaren", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (David Kenneth Smith) , "The moon so peaceful rises", copyright © 1996, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English [singable] (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist)
• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Night song", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Kuu kohoaa hiljaa esiin", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La lune vient doucement", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 70

De maan komt stil gevaren,
Verlicht de hemelkust;
Dan komt de moeë aarde
In ’t lieve licht tot rust.
 
Al dromend wuiven  bomen,
De bronnen ruisen zacht,
En zingend’ eng’len doorstromen
De blauwe sterrennacht.
 
En op de winden komen
Uit ’t hart van menigeen
Ontelbare liefdesdromen
Over de slapers heen.
 
‘k Zie onder in ’t dal daar1 geflonker
In liefjes huis, heel zacht;
Ik echter staar in het donker
Stil in de wijde nacht.