The Point of Music (Latin proverb) | Why do you apply numbers and songs to disagreeable work?

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Zweck der Musik (Lateinischer Spruch)

Language: Latin

Our translations: ENG ENG

Cur adhibes tristi numeros cantuumque labori?
Ut relevent miserum fatum solitosque labores.

Notes provided by Laura Prichard:
In the second line, the names of the notes of the six-note Guidonian scale are hidden in the first syllables of each word: UT RElevent MIserum FAtum SOLitosque LAbores.
The text first appears in the music rudiments book "Compendium musical platinum-germanicum" (1591) by Adam Gumpelzhaimer (1559-1625), Cantor and Präzeptor at the school and church of St. Anna in Augsburg, Germany and at the Augsburg Cathedral. The saying was well known throughout Europe by the middle of the seventeenth century.

Text Authorship:

by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, first published 1591 [author's text not yet checked 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 Hanns Eisler (1898 - 1962), "Zweck der Musik (Lateinischer Spruch)", 1942, from Sonette Lieder, no. 8, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Hanns Eisler (1898 - 1962), "Zweck der Musik (Lateinischer Spruch)", 1939, from Vier Lieder für Gesang und Klavier, no. 2, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Hanns Eisler.

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

ENG English (David A. Poirier) , "What’s the Point of Music (Latin Proverb)", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "The Point of Music (Latin proverb)", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2004-01-16
Line count: 2
Word count: 12

The Point of Music (Latin proverb)

Language: English after the Latin

Why do you apply numbers and songs to disagreeable work?
That they may relieve wretched fate and habitual tasks.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2020 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , first published 1591
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2020-01-07
Line count: 2
Word count: 19