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„Kein Meister fällt vom Himmel.“ Und das ist auch ein großes Glück! Der Meister [sind]1 schon viel zu viel; Wenn noch ein Schock vom Himmel fiel', Wie würden uns Gesellen Die vielen Meister prellen Trotz unserm Meisterstück! „Kein Meister fällt vom Himmel.“ Gottlob, auch keine Meisterin! Ach lieber Himmel, sei so gut, Wenn droben eine brummen thut, Behalte sie in Gnaden, Daß sie zu unserm Schaden Nicht fall' zur Erden hin! „Kein Meister fällt vom Himmel.“ Auch keines Meisters Töchterlein! Zwar hab' ich das schon lang' gewußt, Und doch, was wär' das eine Lust, Wenn jung und hübsch und munter Solch Mädel fiel' herunter Und wollt' mein Herzlieb' sein! „Kein Meister fällt vom Himmel.“ Das ist mein Trost auf dieser Welt; Drum mach' ich, daß ich Meister werd', Und wird mir dann ein Weib beschert, Dann soll aus dieser Erden Mir schon ein Himmel werden, Aus dem kein Meister fällt.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Lieder von Robert Reinick, Maler. Mit dessen Lebensskizze von Berthold Auerbach, Vierte Auflage, Berlin, Verlag von Ernst & Korn, 1857, pages 52-53. Note: in this edition, the poem ends with a comma, but we have fixed the typo.
1 Stöhr: "gibt's"Text Authorship:
- by Robert Reinick (1805 - 1852), "Gesellen-Lied" [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 (Christian Heinrich) Karl Grammann (1842 - 1897), "Gesellenlied", op. 6 (Vier Lieder für 1 tiefere Stimme mit Pianoforte), Heft 2 no. 4, published 1876 [ low voice and piano ], Lübeck, Kaibel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Ludwig Amand Mangold (1813 - 1889), "Kein Meister fällt vom Himmel", op. 35 (Drei Lieder für 4 Männerstimmen) no. 3, published 1894 [ vocal quartet for male voices ], Offenbach, André [sung text not yet checked]
- by Reinhold Reich (1842 - 1900), "Gesellenlied", published 1877 [ men's chorus ], from Neun Lieder für Männerstimmen, no. 5, Leipzig: Siegismund & Volkening [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eduard Seuffert (1850 - 1908), "Gesellenlied", op. 29 (Zwei Lieder für Tenor mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1897 [ tenor and piano ], Leipzig, Robitschek [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Stöhr (1874 - 1967), "Gesellenlied", op. 3 (Vier Lieder) no. 4, published 1908 [ voice and piano ], from 8 Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Klavierbegleitung, 2. Heft, no. 6, Wien (Vienna), Robitschek [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Gesellenlied", from 9 Reinick-Lieder, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Song of the apprentice", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Chant de l'apprenti", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Canto degli alunni", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 28
Word count: 151
Masters do not fall from the sky! And that's a piece of luck, too! for already there are too many masters here; if another bunch were to fall from the sky, how bruised we apprentices would get by all of them, despite our masterpieces! Masters do not fall from the sky! Praise God, neither do masters' wives! Ah, dear heaven, be so kind, if up there one is grumbling, keep her in mercy so that she doesn't come down to earth to shame us! Masters do not fall from the sky! Nor do masters' daughters! A very long time have I known this, and yet, what a joy that would be, if, young and pretty and merry, such a maiden were to come down, and be my true love! Masters do not fall from the sky! That is my comfort in this world; and so I intend to be a master myself, and if I am gifted with a wife, then this earth shall be a heaven to me, from which no master will fall.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 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,
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Robert Reinick (1805 - 1852), "Gesellen-Lied"
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 28
Word count: 176