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Ich komme vom Gebirge her, Es [ruft]1 das Thal, es [rauscht]2 das Meer, Ich wandle [still und]3 wenig froh, Und immer [fragt]4 der Seufzer: wo? Die Sonne dünkt mich hier so kalt, Die Blüte welk, das Leben alt, Und was sie reden, [tauber]5 Schall, Ich bin ein Fremdling überall. Wo bist du, mein [gelobtes]6 Land, Gesucht, geahnt [und]7 nie gekannt? Das Land, das Land so [hoffnunggrün]8, Das Land, wo meine Rosen blühn? Wo meine [Träume wandeln]9 gehn, Wo meine Todten auferstehn; Das Land, das meine Sprache spricht, [Und alles hat, was mir gebricht?]10 Ich wandle [still und]3 wenig froh, Und immer [fragt]4 der Seufzer: wo? [Es bringt die Luft den Hauch]11 zurück: »[Da]12, wo du nicht bist, [blüht]13 das Glück!«
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• A. Hüttenbrenner • D. Kuhlau • F. Schubert • F. Schubert • K. ZelterAbout the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Taschenbuch zum geselligen Vergnügen. Achtzehnter Jahrgang 1808. Herausgegeben von W. G. Becker. Leipzig in der Niemannschen Buchhandlung, page 143; with Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung. Vierzehnter Jahrgang vom 1. Januar 1812 bis 30. December 1812. I. N. Forkel. Leipzig, bei Breitkopf und Härtel, No. 51. Den 16ten December 1812, Beylage No. VI; and with Dichtungen für Kunstredner. Herausgegeben von Deinhardstein. Wien und Triest, 1815. Im Verlage der Geistingerschen Buchhandlung, pages 149-150.
Note: The poem was first published 1808 in a version with five stanzas in Becker's Taschenbuch zum geselligen Vergnügen "Mit Musik von Herrn Zelter". It has also been set by Kuhlau and was published 1812 in Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, but with "Werner" as the author's name. Schubert's text source was Deinhardstein's Dichtungen für Kunstredner, where the poem has the title Der Unglückliche and again "Werner" as author. Schmidt von Lübeck revised his poem and added three stanzas between stanza 1 and 2; this final version was published 1813 in Becker's Guirlanden; see below.
1 Hüttenbrenner, Schubert, Kuhlau, and Deinhardstein: "dampft"; Zelter: "ruht"2 Hüttenbrenner, Schubert: "braust"; Kuhlau: "wogt"
3 Hüttenbrenner, Schubert, Kuhlau, and Deinhardstein: "still, bin"
4 Deinhardstein: "frägt"
5 Hüttenbrenner, Schubert, Kuhlau, and Deinhardstein: "leerer"
6 Hüttenbrenner, Schubert, and Deinhardstein: "geliebtes"
7 Kuhlau: "doch"
8 Hüttenbrenner, Schubert, and Deinhardstein: "hoffnungsgrün"; Kuhlau: "Hoffnungs grün"
9 Hüttenbrenner, Schubert: "Freunde wandelnd"; Deinhardstein: "Freunde wandeln"
10 Hüttenbrenner, Schubert: "O Land, wo bist du?"
11 Hüttenbrenner, Schubert: "Im Geisterhauch tönt's mir"; Kuhlau: "Im Geisterruf tönt's mir"; Deinhardstein: "Im Geisterhauch tönt mir's"
12 Hüttenbrenner, Schubert, and Deinhardstein: "Dort"
13 Hüttenbrenner, Schubert: "dort ist"; Kuhlau, and Deinhardstein: "ist"
Text Authorship:
- by Georg Philipp Schmidt von Lübeck (1766 - 1849), "Des Fremdlings Abendlied", first published 1808 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
- sometimes misattributed to Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner (1768 - 1823)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Anselm Hüttenbrenner (1794 - 1868), "Der Wanderer" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Daniel Friedrich Rudolph Kuhlau (1786 - 1832), "Fremdlings Abendlied", op. 11a (10 Deutsche Lieder mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 8, published 1812 [ voice, piano ], Beylage zur allgemeinen musikalischen Zeitung [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Wanderer", D 493 [ voice and piano ], note: D. 493 has been removed and included as the second and third versions in D. 489 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Wanderer", op. 4 (Drei Lieder) no. 1, D 489 (1816), published 1821, first performed 1821 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Johann Xaver Sterkel (1750 - 1817), "Des Fremdlings Abendlied", published c1809 [ voice and piano ], from [Vier] Gesänge mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, 16e Sammlung, no. 2, Leipzig bey Breitkopf & Härtel, No. 1260 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758 - 1832), "Des Fremdlings Abendlied", published 1808 [ tenor, piano ], Becker's Taschenbuch zum geselligen Vergnügen [sung text checked 1 time]
Another version of this text exists in the database.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De zoeker", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Paul Hindemith) , no title, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "The wanderer", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Yannis Haralambous) , "Le voyageur", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Il viandante", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- RUS Russian (Русский) (Elena Kalinina) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 137
I come down from the mountains, The valley dims, the sea roars. I wander silently and am somewhat unhappy, And my sighs always ask "Where?" The sun seems so cold to me here, The flowers faded, the life old, And what they say has an empty sound; I am a stranger everywhere. Where are you, my dear land? Sought and brought to mind, yet never known, That land, so hopefully green, That land, where my roses bloom, Where my friends wander Where my dead ones rise from the dead, That land where they speak my language, Oh land, where are you? I wander silently and am somewhat unhappy, And my sighs always ask "Where?" In a ghostly breath it calls back to me, "There, where you are not, there is your happiness."
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "Der Wanderer" = "The wanderer"Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Paul Hindemith, (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 Georg Philipp Schmidt von Lübeck (1766 - 1849), "Des Fremdlings Abendlied", first published 1808 and misattributed to Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner (1768 - 1823)
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 132