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Jemand erzählt von seiner Mutter. Ein Deutscher offenbar. Laut und langsam setzt er seine Worte: Wie ein Mädchen, das Blumen bindet, nachdenklich Blume um Blume probt und noch nicht weiß, was aus dem Ganzen wird -- : so fügt er seine Worte. Zu Lust? Zu Leide? Alle lauschen. Sogar das Spucken hört auf. Denn es sind lauter Herren, die wissen, was sich gehört. Und wer das Deutsche nicht kann in dem Haufen, der versteht es auf einmal, fühlt einzelne Worte: "Abends" . . . "Klein war . . ."
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Werke. Kommentiere Ausgabe in vier Bänden, herausgegeben von Manfred Engel, Ulrich Fülleborn, Horst Nalewski, August Stahl, Band I Gedichte 1895 bis 1910, herausgegeben von Manfred Engel und Ulrich Fülleborn, Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1996, page 142.
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, written 1899, appears in Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 3, first published 1906 [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 Paul von Klenau (1883 - 1946), "Jemand erzählt von seiner Mutter", 1918/1919, from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Kornetts Christoph Rilke, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frank Martin (1890 - 1974), "Jemand erzählt von seiner Mutter", 1942 [ alto and chamber orchestra ], from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Casimir von Pászthory (1886 - 1966), "Jemand erzählt von seiner Mutter", 1914, first performed 1914 [ reciter and piano ], from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 4, Leipzig: Fr. Kistner & C.F.W. Siegel, 1919 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Bert Rudolf (1905 - 1992), "Jemand erzählt von seiner Mutter" [ soprano and string quartet ], from Rilke-Lieder, no. 3, Astoria Verlag GmbH / Hal Leonard Europe [sung text not yet checked]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by Viktor Ullmann (1898 - 1944), "Jemand erzählt von seiner Mutter", 1944, published 1995 [ reciter and piano ], from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, Erster Teil, no. 3, Mainz: Schott Music GmbH & Co.
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Marco Zapparoli (b. 1960) , appears in L’Alfieri, copyright © ; composed by Hans Ludwig Hirsch.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Knut W. Barde) , "Someone is talking of his mother", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Quelqu'un parle de sa mère", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: John Versmoren , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 87
Someone is talking of his mother. He apparently is German. Loudly and slowly he places his words: Like a girl who is assembling a flower bouquet, and who thoughtfully tries out flower after flower and does not yet know what it will become - that is how he structures his words. For fun? For ill? All listen. Even the spitting ceases. After all they are all gentlemen, who know what is proper. And those in this band who do not know German, suddenly understand it, feel individual words: "Evenings" ... "Was little..." [In this they are all close to each other, these gentlemen, who come from France and from Burgundy, from the Netherlands, from the valleys of Kaernten, from the bohemian castles and from Emperor Leopold. Because what one of them is recounting, they have also experienced, and just like that. As if there were only one mother... So one is riding into the evening, any evening. One is silent again, but the bright words are now being carried along. Then the Marquis lifts off his helmet. His dark hair is soft, and as he bends down his head, his hair spreads on his neck in a feminine fashion. Now von Langenau recognizes it as well: Far away something is towering into the gloaming, something slender, dark. A lonely column, half fallen apart. And after they have long passed it, later, it comes to him, that that had been a Madonna.]
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Knut W. Barde, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, written 1899, appears in Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 3, first published 1906
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 33
Word count: 239