by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
Zu unterst der Alte, verworrn
Language: German (Deutsch)
Zu unterst der Alte, verworrn, all der Erbauten Wurzel, verborgener Born, den sie nie schauten. Sturmhelm und Jägerhorn, Spruch von Ergrauten, Männer im Bruderzorn, Frauen wie Lauten... Drängender Zweig an Zweig, nirgends ein freier.... Einer! O steig... o steig... Aber sie brechen noch. Dieser erst oben doch biegt sich zur Leier.
H. Birtwistle sets lines 13-14
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Die Sonette an Orpheus, Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1923
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Die Sonette an Orpheus 1, no. 17 [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 Harrison Birtwistle, Sir (1934 - 2022), "Elegy 2, Sonnet I, 17", 2003-04, first performed 2004, lines 13-14 [ oboe, harp and countertenor ], from Orpheus elegies, no. 5, Boosey & Hawkes [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "Zu unterst der Alte", copyright © 2012 [ tenor and piano ], from Sonnets to Orpheus, no. 17, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-05-02
Line count: 14
Word count: 51