Der Reif [hatt']1 einen weißen Schein Mir über's Haar gestreuet. Da [meint']2 ich schon ein Greis zu sein, Und hab' mich sehr gefreuet. Doch bald ist er hinweggethaut, Hab' wieder schwarze Haare, Daß mir's vor meiner Jugend graut - Wie weit noch bis zur Bahre! Vom Abendroth zum Morgenlicht Ward mancher Kopf zum Greise. Wer glaubt's? Und meiner ward es nicht Auf dieser ganzen Reise!
Confirmed with Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Zweites Bändchen. Deßau 1824. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, page 91; and with Deutsche Blätter für Poesie, Litteratur, Kunst und Theater. Herausgegeben von Karl Schall und Karl von Holtei. Breslau 1823, bei Graß, Barth und Comp. No. XLI. 13. März 1823, page 161.
First published in Deutsche Blätter(see above) as no. 1 of the installment of Die Winterreise. Lieder von Wilhelm Müller.
1 Schubert (autograph and Alte Gesamtausgabe): "hat"2 Schubert: "glaubt'"
Text Authorship:
- by Wilhelm Müller (1794 - 1827), "Der greise Kopf", written 1822-23, appears in Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten 2, in Die Winterreise, no. 10, first published 1823 [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 Reiner Bredemeyer (1929 - 1995), "Der greise Kopf", 1984, first performed 1985 [ baritone, horn, and piano ], from Die Winterreise, no. 10, VEB Deutscher Verlag [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Cyrill Kistler (1848 - 1907), "Der greise Kopf", op. 20 (Vier Lieder für gemischten Chor) no. 3, published 1878 [ satb chorus ], München, Aibl [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der greise Kopf", op. 89 no. 14, D 911 no. 14 (1827), published 1828 [ voice and piano ], from Winterreise, no. 14, Haslinger [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Johannes (Hans) Wolfgang Zender (b. 1936), "Der greise Kopf", 1993 [ tenor and small orchestra ], from Schuberts Winterreise, no. 14 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- AFR Afrikaans [singable] (Robert Schall) , "Die grys kop", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Cabells blancs", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , " 灰发", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Het grijze hoofd", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Arthur Rishi) , "The grey head", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English [singable] (David Paley) , "The grey head", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Harmaantunut pää", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "La tête du vieillard", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRI Frisian [singable] (Pieter Wiersma) , "It Grize Hier", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Max Mader) , "ראש שיבה", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "La testa bianca", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- KOR Korean (한국어/조선말) [singable] (곽명규 Myung-Kew Kwack) , "은빛 머리", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , "Žila galva", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Saúl Botero Restrepo) , "La cabeza gris", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Ofer Sheinberg , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 64