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Wenn ich einst das Ziel errungen habe, In den Lichtgefilden jener Welt, Heil! der Thräne dann an meinem Grabe, Die auf hingestreute Rosen fällt. Sehnsuchtsvoll, mit [hoher]1 Ahnungswonne, Ruhig, wie der mondbeglänzte Hain, Lächelnd, wie beim Niedergang die Sonne, Harr' ich, göttliche Vollendung, dein! Eil', o eile mich empor zu flügeln, Wo sich unter mir die Welten drehn, Wo im Lebensquell sich Palmen spiegeln, Wo die Liebenden sich wiedersehn! Sklavenketten sind der Erde Leiden; [Oefters, ach! zerreißt]2 sie nur der Tod! Blumenkränzen gleichen ihre Freuden, Die ein Westhauch zu entblättern droht!
F. Schubert sets stanzas 1-3
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Gedichte von Friedrich von Matthisson. Erster Theil. Tübingen, bei Cotta, 1811, page 66; and with Gedichte von Friedrich Matthisson. Mannheim in der neuen Hof- und akademischen Buchhandlung. 1787, pages 12-13.
First published in Poetische Blumenlese auf das Jahr 1786. Göttingen, bey Joh. Christian Dieterich, page 218, with an additional stanza between stanzas 1 and 2; see below.
1 Schubert: "banger"2 Matthisson (Mannheim 1787 edition): "Oft, ach, öfters bricht"
Authorship:
- by Friedrich von Matthisson (1761 - 1831), "Die Vollendung", written 1784-85, appears in Wanderjahre in Deutschland (1784-1787), first published 1785 [author's text checked 2 times 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 August Friedrich Martin Klughardt (1847 - 1902), "Vollendung", op. 63 (Drei Lieder für 1 mittlere Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1895 [ Dessau, Kahle's Verlag ], Leipzig, Hug & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leopold Lenz (1803 - 1862), "Die Vollendung", op. 5 (Sieben Gesänge) no. 2, published 1829? [ bass and piano ], Munich; J. A. Sidler [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Franz Anton Maurer (1777 - 1803), "Wenn ich einst das Ziel errungen" [ voice and piano ], from Drey Lieder, no. 3, München: In der Falterischen Musikhandlung [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Johann) Albert Gottlieb Methfessel (1785 - 1869), "Die Vollendung ", published 1820, Rudolstadt, Commission der Hofbuchhandlung, in Liederkranz; Zweiter Heft, Sammlung von Gesängen & Liedern, [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Friedrich Wilhelm Rust (1739 - 1796), "Die Vollendung", published 1796 [ voice and piano ], from Oden und Lieder aus den besten deutschen Dichtern, Zweite Sammlung, no. 9, Leipzig: Bei Georg August Grieshammer [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Vollendung", D 579A (1817?), published 1970, stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ], formerly catalogued as D. 989. Kassel, Bärenreiter-Verlag [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Johann Xaver Sterkel (1750 - 1817), "Die Vollendung", 1796 [ voice and piano ], from Zwölf Lieder nach Gedichten von Matthisson, no. 6, Mannheim München Düsseldorf, Johann Michael Götz, No. 581 [sung text not yet checked]
Another version of this text exists in the database.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Voleinding", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Accomplissement", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 91
When one day I reach the end [I seek], In the light-filled world beyond, Hail, to the tears that fall onto my grave Covered with roses! Full of yearning, with [great]1 anticipation, Calm, as the moonlit grove, Smiling, as at the seeting sun, I wait for, divine fulfillment, for you! Hurry, oh hurry to lift me aloft [on wings] Where underneath me worlds turn, Where in the source2 of Life palms are mirrored, Where lovers see each other once again. Chains of slavery are the suffering of the earth, [Often, ah, most often they break]3 only in death! Floral wreaths are like your joy, A western wind threatens strip them!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Translation of title "Vollendung" = "Fulfillment"
1 Schubert: "fearful"
2 or "spring"
3 Lenz, Rust: “Now and then, ah! they break" (as appears in Matthisson's poem in Gedichte von Friedrich von Matthisson, Leipzig, Druck und Verlag von Philipp Reclam jun., [1870], pages 18-19.)
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Prichard, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich von Matthisson (1761 - 1831), "Die Vollendung", written 1784-85, appears in Wanderjahre in Deutschland (1784-1787), first published 1785
This text was added to the website: 2016-04-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 110