by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
Translation by Fyodor Bogdanovich Miller (1818 - 1881)
Die Jungfrau schläft in der Kammer
Language: German (Deutsch)
Our translations: FRE
Die Jungfrau schläft in der Kammer, der Mond schaut zitternd [hinein]1; da draußen singt es und klingt es, wie Walzermelodein. "Ich will mal schaun aus dem Fenster, wer drunten stört meine Ruh." Da steht ein Totengerippe, und fiedelt und singt dazu: "Hast einst [mir den Tanz]2 versprochen, und hast gebrochen dein Wort, und heut ist Ball auf dem Kirchhof, komm mit, wir tanzen [dort]3." Die Jungfrau ergreift es gewaltig, es lockt sie [hervor]4 aus dem Haus; sie folgt dem Gerippe, das singend und fiedelnd schreitet voraus. Es fiedelt und tänzelt und hüpfet, und klappert mit seinem Gebein, und nickt und nickt mit dem Schädel unheimlich im Mondenschein.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Note: Lachner's setting includes a flauto obbligato part so the words "fiedelt" (two occurrences) and "fiedeln" may be replaced with "pfeift" and "pfeifend" respectively.
1 Schreiter: "herein"2 Schreiter: "den Tanz mir"
3 Lachner: "dazu"
4 Lachner: "heraus"
Text Authorship:
- by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 22 [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 Karl Oskar Alwin (1891 - 1945), "Nachtstück", from Sechs Lieder, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz Blumenberg (1869 - 1940), "Der Totentanz", op. 158 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hermann Drechsler (1861 - 1935), "Die Jungfrau schläft in der Kammer", op. 20 [ voice, piano, and violin ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by L. Engel , "Die Jungfrau schläft in der Kammer" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Zdenko Antonín Václav Fibich (1850 - 1900), "Die Jungfrau schläft", H. 227 no. 6 (1876) [ voice and orchestra ], from Neue Lieder, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sigismund Goldschmidt (1815 - 1877), "Der todte Tänzer: Gedicht von H. Heine", op. 1, published 1840? [ bass or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernst Kölz , "Todtentanz", published c1987, from Todtenkranz : Lieder im Volkston, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz Paul Lachner (1803 - 1890), "Der Ball auf dem Kirchhofe", op. 34 (Drei Lieder nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine) no. 1 [ voice, piano, and violoncello (or flute, violin, or horn) ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Levitt , "Gerippentanz", published 1914 [sung text not yet checked]
- by E. van der Leyen , "Die Jungfrau schläft in der Kammer", op. 2 (Lieder) no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Moses Pergament (1893 - 1977), "Die Jungfrau", published 1945 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nikolay Sergeyevich Potolovsky (1878 - 1927), "Das Totengerippe", op. 5 (Sechs Lieder) no. 2, also set in Russian (Русский) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alfred Reisenauer (1863 - 1907), "Die Jungfrau schläft in der Kammer", published 1899 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Gedichte für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 2, Berlin, Fürstner [sung text not yet checked]
- by Anton Rückauf (1855 - 1903), "Die Jungfrau schläft in der Kammer", op. 14 (Sieben Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 5, published 1891 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
- by L. Sadler , "Die Jungfrau schläft in der Kammer", op. 1 (Fünf Gesänge) no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Winfried Schreiter (b. 1930), "Unheimliche Aufforderung", 2007 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Johann Vesque von Püttlingen (1803 - 1883), "Der Tänzer", op. 7 (Balladen, Romanzen und Lieder) no. 3, published 1851 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Vesque von Püttlingen (1803 - 1883), "Der tote Tänzer", alternate title: "Der Tanz", published 1851, from Die Heimkehr : 88 Gedichte aus H. Heine's Reisebildern, no. 22 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Emma Lazarus (1849 - 1887) , "Die Jungfrau schläft in der Kammer", appears in Poems Selected from Heinrich Heine, ed. by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, pages 95-96, first published 1887 ; composed by William Gardiner Hammond.
- Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Max Heinrich.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Fyodor Bogdanovich Miller (1818 - 1881) , "Ночная пляска" ; composed by Nikolay Sergeyevich Potolovsky.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , 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: 20
Word count: 107
Devicza usnula v svetlice
Language: Russian (Русский) after the German (Deutsch)
Devicza usnula v svetlice, V okno k nej glyaditsya luna; Vdrug zvuki melodii val`sa Skvoz` son usly'xala ona. «Pojdu, posmotryu ya v okoshko, Kto e`to mne spat` ne daet?» Skelet tam na skripke igraet, I plyashet, i gromko poet: «So mnoj ty' plyasat` obeshhala, No ya by'l obmanut toboj; Teper` u nas bal na kladbishhe, Pojdem, potanczuem so mnoj». Kakaya-to tajnaya sila Deviczu iz doma vlechet, Vy'xodit ona za vorota I vsled za skeletom idet. A on vsyo igraet i plyashet, Poet i kostyami gremit, I cherepom goly'm kivaet… A mesyacz zloveshhe glyadit.
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Text Authorship:
- by Fyodor Bogdanovich Miller (1818 - 1881), "Ночная пляска" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 22
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Nikolay Sergeyevich Potolovsky (1878 - 1927), "Скелет", op. 5 (Sechs Lieder) no. 2, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2021-08-23
Line count: 20
Word count: 93