At twilight the summer evening lies

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by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend

Language: German (Deutsch)

Available translation(s): CAT DUT ENG FRE

Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend
Über Wald und grünen Wiesen;
Goldner Mond, [am]¹ blauen Himmel,
Strahlt herunter, duftig labend.

An dem Bache zirpt die Grille,
Und es regt sich in dem Wasser,
Und der Wandrer hört ein Plätschern,
Und ein Athmen in der Stille.

Dorten, an dem Bach alleine,
Badet sich die schöne Elfe;
Arm und Nacken, weiß und lieblich,
Schimmern in dem Mondenscheine.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Brahms, Elling: "im"

Authorship:

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 85 [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 Franz Wilhelm Abt (1819 - 1885), "Sommerabend (Dämmern sinkt der Sommerabend)", op. 608 (Drei Männerchöre) no. 1 [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Aleksandr Adolfovich Borkhman (1872 - 1940), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", op. 13 no. 2, published 1922 [ voice and piano ], Moscow: Muzgiz, 1925. Plate Г.М.И.М. 1993-1995 [sung text not yet checked]
by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Sommerabend", op. 85 (Sechs Lieder) no. 1 (1878), published 1882 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Sommerabend", op. 40 (Drei Heine-Lieder) no. 2 (1926), published 1929 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Alphons Diepenbrock (1862 - 1921), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", 1884, rev. 1909 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Catharinus Elling (1858 - 1942), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", op. 12 no. 13 [ voice and piano ], from Catharinus Elling-Album, no. 13, Kjøbenhavn (Copenhagen), Kongelig (Kgl.) Hof-Musikhandel [sung text checked 1 time]
by Zdenko Antonín Václav Fibich (1850 - 1900), "Sommerabend", op. 3 (Zwei Lieder) no. 2, H. 77 no. 2 (1865), published 1866, from Zwei Gesänge (Dvě zpěvů), no. 2, also set in Czech (Čeština) [sung text not yet checked]
by Don Forsythe (1932 - 2015), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", published c2004-5 [ low voice and piano ], from Eine Dichtererzählung - Sommerzyklus, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Henry Kimball Hadley (1871 - 1937), "Die Wasserelfe", op. 9 (Six Songs for Voice with Piano = Sechs Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1897 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, A.P. Schmidt, also set in English [sung text not yet checked]
by Henrik Hennings (1848 - 1923), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", op. 18 (Zwölf Lieder von Heinrich Heine) no. 7, published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Kopenhagen, Prior (Leipzig, Kistner) [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Hermann (1869 - 1912), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", op. 5 (Sechs kleine Lieder für 1 mittlere Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1895 [ medium voice and piano ], Leipzig, Junne [sung text not yet checked]
by Ferdinand von Hiller (1811 - 1885), "Die Elfe", op. 116 (Acht Gedichte von H. Heine für S., A., T. und B.), Heft 2 no. 6, published 1865 [ SATB chorus ], Bremen, Cranz [sung text not yet checked]
by Ernst Friedrich Kauffmann (1803 - 1856), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", published 1852-9, from Lieder und Gesänge : 36 Lieder nach verschiedenen Dichtern, Heft 6, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Arno Kleffel (1840 - 1913), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", op. 20 (Zwölf Lieder), Heft 1 no. 4, published 1876 [ voice and piano ], Dresden, Hoffarth [sung text not yet checked]
by Franz Paul Lachner (1803 - 1890), "Die badende Elfe", op. 33, Heft 1 no. 1, from Sängerfahrt : sechzehn Lieder nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Miklaschewsky , "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend" [sung text not yet checked]
by Béla Nemes Hegyi , "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", op. 4 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1894 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Bote & Bock [sung text not yet checked]
by F. R. Pfau , "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", op. 1 (Drei Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 3, published 1892 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Fritzsch [sung text not yet checked]
by Edna Frida Pietsch (1894 - 1982), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", op. 6 (Neun Lieder) no. 2, published 1980 [sung text not yet checked]
by Nathaniel Rice , "Abendlied", op. 1 (Neun Lieder), Heft 1 no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Anton Rückauf (1855 - 1903), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", op. 14 (Sieben Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1891 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
by Josy (Joseph) Schlageter (1883 - 1919), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", published 1920 [sung text not yet checked]
by Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Sommerabend", op. 4 no. 1 (1904), published 1907 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder von Heine, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by H. R. Schröder , "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", from Fünf Lieder von H. Heine, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by M. A. Snyder , "Sommerabend" [sung text not yet checked]
by Korstiaan Stougie (1908 - 1988), "Dämmernd", op. 1 no. 83 (1945), published 1972 [sung text not yet checked]
by Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson (1847 - 1927), "Der Sommerabend" [sung text not yet checked]
by Thümmel , "Abendlied", from Lieder im Volkston, Heft 2, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Wolfgang Ulrich (1924 - 1995), "Sommerabend", 1982, from Acht Heine-Lieder, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Johann Vesque von Püttlingen (1803 - 1883), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", published 1851, from Die Heimkehr : 88 Gedichte aus H. Heine's Reisebildern, no. 85 [sung text not yet checked]
by Karl Weigl (1881 - 1949), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", 1904, from 5 Lieder v. Heinr. Heine, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Justus Hermann Wetzel (1879 - 1973), "Sommerabend" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by (James) Healey Willan (1880 - 1968), "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", published 1908 [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs, no. 1, also set in English [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Czech (Čeština), a translation by František Augustin Urbánek (1842 - 1919) ; composed by Zdenko Antonín Václav Fibich.
Also set in English, a translation by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker (1845 - 1904) , "Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend", appears in Poems Selected from Heinrich Heine, ed. by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, London: Walter Scott, Limited, pages 121-122, first published 1887 ; composed by Henry Kimball Hadley, Healey Willan.
Also set in French (Français), a translation by Georges Clerc (flourished c1881) , no title, appears in Mon videpoche, in 3. Traductions et variations d'après H. Heine, no. 28, Paris, Éd. P. Ollendorff, first published 1881 ; composed by André Messager.
Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , ; composed by Robert Caby.

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , appears in Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine, first published 1881
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , copyright © 2019
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 63

At twilight the summer evening lies

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

At twilight the summer evening lies
Over woods and green fields;
In the blue sky the golden moon
Gleams down in a refreshing haze.

By the brook, the cricket chirps
And something stirs in the water,
And the traveler hears a splashing sound,
And a breathing in the silence.

Over there, alone by the brook,
The fair water-sprite is bathing;
Her arm and neck, white and lovely,
Shimmer in the light of the moon.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Dämmernd liegt der Sommerabend" = "At twilight the summer evening lies"
"Sommerabend" = "Summer evening"

Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive -- https://www.lieder.net/
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 85

This text was added to the website: 2019-12-03
Line count: 12
Word count: 74