La perspective | Quand dans le lointain passe la vie des hommes qui habitent

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by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843)

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

Wenn in die Ferne geht der Menschen...

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: FRE

Wenn in die Ferne geht der Menschen wohnend Leben,
Wo in [die]¹ Ferne sich erglänzt die Zeit der Reben,
Ist auch dabei des Sommers leer Gefilde,
Der Wald erscheint mit seinem dunklen Bilde.

Daß die Natur ergänzt das Bild der Zeiten,
Daß die verweilt, sie schnell vorübergleiten,
Ist aus Vollkommenheit, des Himmels Höhe glänzet
Den Menschen dann, wie Bäume Blüt umkränzet.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• K. Saariaho

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
The poem is printed with this beneath it:

Mit Untertänigkeit
Scardanelli.
d. 24 Mai 1748.

¹ Saariaho: "der" (according to the Chester Novello website)

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843), "Die Aussicht" [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 Stefano Gervasoni (b. 1962), "Die Aussicht", 1985, rev. 2003, first performed 2003 [ voice, clarinet, viola and 3 percussion players ], Edizioni Suvini Zerboni [sung text checked 1 time]
by Philippe Hersant (b. 1948), "La vue", subtitle: "Die Aussicht", 2011, published 2012 [ baritone and piano ], from In die Ferne, no. 7, Paris, Éd. Durand [sung text not yet checked]
by Wilhelm Killmayer (1927 - 2017), "Die Aussicht", 1982-91 [ tenor and piano ], from Hölderlin-Lieder: Erster Zyklus, no. 17 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Kaija Saariaho (1952 - 2023), "Die Aussicht", 1996 [ soprano, flute, guitar, violin, and violoncello (or flute, piano, and violoncello - 1998) ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani

This text was added to the website: 2007-09-25
Line count: 8
Word count: 62

La perspective

Language: French (Français) after the German (Deutsch)

Quand dans le lointain passe la vie des hommes qui habitent,
Où dans le lointain brille le temps des vignes,
Viennent aussi les champs vides de l'été, 
La forêt avec sa sombre image apparaît.

Que la nature complète l'image du temps,
Qu'elle persiste, comme rapidement il glisse,
Cela tient de la perfection, le ciel élevé brille
Sur les hommes, comme les arbres sont couronnés de fleurs.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2017 by Guy Laffaille, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843), "Die Aussicht"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2017-03-07
Line count: 8
Word count: 66