The hurdy-gurdy-man | There, behind the village

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by Wilhelm Müller (1794 - 1827)

Translation © by Arthur Rishi

Der Leiermann

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: AFR CAT CHI DUT DUT ENG ENG ENG FIN FRE FRI HEB IRI ITA KOR LIT POR SPA

Drüben [hinter'm]¹ Dorfe
Steht ein Leiermann,
Und mit [starren Fingern]²
Dreht er was er [kann]³.

Baarfuß auf dem Eise
[Schwankt]⁴ er hin und her;
Und sein kleiner Teller
[Bleibt ihm]⁵ immer leer.

Keiner mag ihn hören,
Keiner sieht ihn an;
Und die Hunde [brummen]⁶
Um den alten Mann.

Und er läßt es gehen
Alles, wie es will,
Dreht, und seine Leier
Steht ihm nimmer still.

Wunderlicher Alter, 
Soll ich mit dir gehn?
Willst zu meinen Liedern
Deine Leier drehn?

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• W. Kienzl • C. Kistler • F. Schubert

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Zweites Bändchen. Deßau 1824. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, pages 107-108; 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. XLII. 14. März 1823, page 166.

First published in Deutsche Blätter (see above) as no. 10 of the installment of Die Winterreise. Lieder von Wilhelm Müller.

¹ Kistler: "hinter dem"
² Kienzl: "starrem Finger"
³ Kistler: "drehen kann"
⁴ Kienzl, Schubert: "Wankt"
⁵ Müller (Deutsche Blätter): "Bleibet"
⁶ Kienzl, Schubert: "knurren"

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Müller (1794 - 1827), "Der Leiermann", written 1822-23, appears in Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten 2, in Die Winterreise, no. 24, 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 Carl Banck (1809 - 1889), "Der Leiermann", 1838/9 [sung text not yet checked]
by Reiner Bredemeyer (1929 - 1995), "Der Leiermann", 1984, first performed 1985 [ baritone, horn, and piano ], from Die Winterreise, no. 24, VEB Deutscher Verlag [sung text checked 1 time]
by Theodor Heinrich Gerlach (1861 - 1940), "Der Leiermann ", op. 16 no. 1, published 1898 [ reciter and piano ], from Gesprochene Lieder mit Pianoforte, no. 1, Magdeburg, Heinrichshofen's Verlag [sung text not yet checked]
by Wilhelm Kienzl (1857 - 1941), "Der Leiermann", op. 38 (Zwei Lieder für Tenor (oder Sopran) mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1893 [ tenor or soprano and piano ], Linz a/D., Fink [sung text checked 1 time]
by Cyrill Kistler (1848 - 1907), "Der Leiermann", op. 30 (Drei Lieder für Bariton mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1878 [ baritone and piano ], München, Aibl [sung text checked 1 time]
by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Leiermann", op. 89 no. 24, D 911 no. 24 (1827), published 1828 [ voice and piano ], from Winterreise, no. 24, Haslinger
Listen to this song with the Artsconverge Player
[sung text checked 1 time]
by Johannes (Hans) Wolfgang Zender (b. 1936), "Der Leiermann", 1993 [ tenor and small orchestra ], from Schuberts Winterreise, no. 24 [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Arthur Rishi) , "The hurdy-gurdy-man", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
RUS Russian (Русский) (Innokenty Fyodorovich Annensky) , "Шарманщик"

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: 20
Word count: 79

The hurdy‑gurdy‑man

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

There, behind the village, 
stands a hurdy-gurdy-man,
And with numb fingers 
he plays the best he can.

Barefoot on the ice, 
he staggers back and forth,
And his little plate 
remains ever empty.

No one wants to hear him, 
no one looks at him,
And the hounds snarl 
at the old man.

And he lets it all go by, 
everything as it will,
He plays, and his hurdy-gurdy
is never still.

Strange old man, 
shall I go with you?
Will you play your hurdy-gurdy 
to my songs?

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Arthur Rishi, (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 Wilhelm Müller (1794 - 1827), "Der Leiermann", written 1822-23, appears in Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten 2, in Die Winterreise, no. 24, first published 1823
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 87