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by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866)
Translation © by Emily Ezust (b. 1972)
Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint
Language: German (Deutsch)
Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint, Die hat sich in's Meer [zu verlieren]1 gemeint. Die Muschel kam und schloß sie ein: Du sollst nun meine Perle sein. Du sollst nicht vor den Wogen zagen, Ich will hindurch dich ruhig tragen. O du mein Schmerz, du meine Lust, Du Himmelsthrän' in meiner Brust! Gieb, Himmel, daß ich in reinem Gemüthe Den reinsten deiner Tropfen hüte.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Note: modern German spelling would use "Träne" instead of "Thräne", "Gib" instead of "Gieb", and "Gemüte" instead of "Gemüthe".
Confirmed with Deutsche Lyrik, Selected and Arranged with Notes and a Literary Introduction by C.A. Buchheim, London: MacMillan & Co., 1875, page 165.
1 Schumann: "verlieren"Text Authorship:
- by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), no title, appears in Lyrische Gedichte, in 3. Liebesfrühling, in 1. Erster Strauß. Erwacht, no. 4 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Berthold Damcke (1812 - 1875), "Die Himmelsthräne", op. 19 no. 1, published 1844 [ vocal quartet for male voices ], Hannover, Nagel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Franz (1815 - 1892), "Die Perle", op. 48 (Sechs Gesänge) no. 4 (1878), published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Leuckart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Heinrich Gelhaar , "Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint", op. 3 (Sechs Lieder) no. 4, published 1874 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ferdinand Gumbert (1818 - 1896), "Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint", op. 85 (5 Lieder für Sopran (oder Tenor) mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1859 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Berlin, Schlesinger [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Carl Franz) Edmund Kretschmer (1830 - 1908), "Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint", op. 10, published 1868 [ voice and piano ], Dresden, Hoffarth [sung text not yet checked]
- by Friedrich Wilhelm Kücken (1810 - 1882), "Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint", op. 63, published 1855/6 [ soprano or tenor, piano, and clarinet or violin obbligato ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Lührss (1824 - 1882), "Die Himmelsthräne", op. 11 (6 Lieder) no. 1, published 1845 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Heinrich August Marschner (1795 - 1861), "Der Himmel hat eine Träne geweint", op. 113 no. 4, published 1842 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Frühlingsliebe von Fr. Rückert für Sopran oder Tenor, no. 4, Hannover, Nagel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Metzdorff (1844 - 1919), "Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint", op. 27 no. 2, published 1875 [ voice and piano ], in Die musikalische Welt, Braunschweig, Litolff [sung text not yet checked]
- by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint ", op. 284 no. 3 (2018) [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Lieder nach Friedrich Rückert, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Omâra , "Der Himmel", published 1880 [ voice and piano ], from 7 Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 7, Berlin, Paez [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Albert Maria) Robert Radecke (1830 - 1911), "Die Himmelsträne", op. 13 (Vier Lieder) no. 3, published 1855 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Bote & Bock [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rudolf Radecke (1829 - 1893), "Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint", op. 4 (Vier Lieder für eine tiefe Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1858 [ low voice and piano ], Berlin, Bahn [sung text not yet checked]
- by Max Reger (1873 - 1916), "Der Himmel hat eine Träne geweint", op. 35 (Sechs Lieder) no. 2 (1899), published 1899 [ medium voice and piano ], München, Aibl Verlag [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Karl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (1824 - 1910), "Lied", op. 18 (Sechs Lieder und Gesänge) no. 4 (1847/8) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Josef Reiter (1862 - 1939), "Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 4, Wien, Krämer [sung text not yet checked]
- by Philipp Rüfer (1844 - 1919), "Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint", op. 17 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte. ) no. 2, published 1872 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Challier & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gustav Schmidt (1816 - 1882), "Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint", op. 2 (Sechs Lieder) no. 6, published <<1848 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Der Himmel hat eine Träne geweint", op. 37 no. 1 (1841), published 1841 [ voice and piano ], from Zwölf Gedichte aus Friedrich Rückerts Liebesfrühling [nos. 2,4,11 by Clara Schumann; the rest by Robert Schumann], no. 1, Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Julius Stern (1820 - 1883), "Die Himmelsthräne", op. 22 no. 4, published 1845 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Gedichte von Rückert, Eichendorff und Arndt für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, no. 4, Berlin: bei Ed. Bote & G. Bock [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Wilhelm Sturm (1842 - 1922), "Die Himmelsthräne", op. 40 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 1, published 1884 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
- by Max Wilhelm Karl Vogrich (1852 - 1916), "Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint", published 1890 [ voice and piano ], from Zweites Lieder-Album, no. 10, Leipzig, Hofmeister [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ludolf Waldmann (1840 - 1919), "Die Himmelsthräne", op. 32, published 1876 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Hagel [sung text not yet checked]
- by August Walter (1821 - 1896), "Die Himmelsthräne", op. 17 (Drei Gesänge für Alt-Stimme) no. 1, published 1862 [ alto and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
- by H. Willemsen , "Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint", op. 12 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1885 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Schuberth & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Emily Ezust (b. 1972) , "Heaven has shed a tear", copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission ; composed by Bruce Adolphe.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De hemel had eens een traantje geschreid", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le ciel a versé une larme", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Il cielo ha versato una lacrima", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 64
Heaven has shed a tear
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
Heaven has shed a tear that meant to lose itself in the sea; but the mussel came and locked it in: you shall now be my pearl. You should not fear the waves; I will carry you peacefully through. O you my pain, you my joy, you tear of heaven in my bosom! Heaven grant that with a pure soul I may guard the purest of your tears.
Text Authorship:
- by Emily Ezust (b. 1972), "Heaven has shed a tear", copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), no title, appears in Lyrische Gedichte, in 3. Liebesfrühling, in 1. Erster Strauß. Erwacht, no. 4
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Bruce Adolphe (b. 1955), "Heaven has shed a tear", published 2011 [high voice and piano], from Pearls, tears of the sea, no. 1, Maryland Heights, MO : Keiser Classical ; Milwaukee, WI [ sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 68