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谁家玉笛暗飞声, 散入春风满洛城。 此夜曲中闻折柳, 何人不起故园情!
Authorship:
- by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "春夜洛城闻笛" [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):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Jules Schürmann (1873 - 1927) , from Chineesche verzen, first published 1916 ; composed by M. C. C. Reynvaan.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955) , "Les deux flûtes" [an adaptation] ; composed by Manuel M. Ponce, Rosalie Marie Wertheim.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Judith Gautier (1845 - 1917) , "La flûte mystérieuse", appears in Le livre de jade, 1867 edition, in 7. Les poëtes, no. 4, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1867 ; composed by Gabriel-André Fabre.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Hans Bethge (1876 - 1946) , "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", appears in Die chinesische Flöte [an adaptation] ; composed by Hans Altmann, Gottfried von Einem, Artur Immisch, Sigurd von Koch, Léonard Pieter Joseph Michielsen, Krzysztof Penderecki, Julius Röntgen, James Martin Simon, Emil Sjögren, Rudolf Wagner-Régeny, Anton von Webern, Egon Joseph Wellesz.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Max Fleischer , "Geheimnisvolles Zwiegespräch zweier Flöten", appears in Der Porzellanpavillon: Nachdichtungen Chinesischer Lyrik von Max Fleisher, first published 1927 ; composed by Philipp Schoeller.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Ethan Fan) , "Flute tune heard in Luoyang’s spring night", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Fan Yang
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-29
Line count: 4
Word count: 4
A jade flute singing on and off in the dark night, Riding the spring breeze through Luoyang. In the nocturne is heard a story of breaking willow branch, How can one's heart not be filled with homesickness!
Translator’s notes
Line 1: a musical instrument carved from jade (commonly called a xiao); these appear in Chinese literature from a very early date; however, it was not until the eighteenth century, when the supply of the precious stone became plentiful, that jade flutes were actually made.
Line 2: Luo City, Luoyang, a city east of the capital city Chang’an, a regional center in the Tang Dynasty.
Line 3: “Breaking willow branch" - The flute is playing an ancient tune called “breaking willow branch”. “Breaking willow branch” was a phrase often used in ancient poems, expressing memories and best wishes at a time of departure from friends and family. In ancient times, when travelers departed, there was a custom of breaking willow branches to give to each other.
Li Bo is among the most famous and influential ancient Chinese poets with over a thousand of his works having been preserved. One of the romantic artistic techniques of Li Bo's poetry is the combination of personification and metaphor, describing things, and relating things to people. For example, this poem describes Luoyang City on a spring night, with a breeze bringing the sound of a flute playing a tune of farewell. This, in turn, makes people feel homesick. Compared with the straightforwardness of Li Bo's other famous poem, "Silent Night Thoughts", where homesickness is expressed directly, this poem is more romantic and reverent.
Authorship:
- Translation from Chinese (中文) to English copyright © 2022 by Ethan Fan, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "春夜洛城闻笛"
This text was added to the website: 2022-09-19
Line count: 4
Word count: 37