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O Tod, wie bitter bist du, Wenn an dich gedenket ein Mensch, Der gute Tage und genug hat Und ohne Sorge lebet; Und dem es wohl geht in allen Dingen Und [noch wohl]1 essen mag! O Tod, wie bitter bist du. O Tod, wie wohl tust du dem Dürftigen, Der da schwach und alt ist, Der in allen Sorgen steckt, Und nichts Bessers zu hoffen, Noch zu erwarten hat! O Tod, wie wohl tust du!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Reger: "wohl noch"
Text Authorship:
- by Bible or other Sacred Texts , from Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), 41:1-2. [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Latin by Bible or other Sacred Texts , Sirach, 41:1-4
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "O Tod, wie bitter bist du", op. 121 no. 3 (1896), published 1896 [ baritone and piano ], from Vier ernste Gesänge, no. 3, Berlin, Simrock [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Hans Fleischer (1896 - 1981), "O Tod, wie bitter bist du", op. 111 (4 Gesänge nach Worten der Heiligen Schrift für Baßbariton und Klavier) no. 1 (1938) [ bass-baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Max Reger (1873 - 1916), "O Tod, wie bitter bist du", op. 110 no. 3 (1909-1912) [ mixed chorus ], Berlin, Bote & Bock [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Susana Martin Dudoignon) , copyright © 2022, (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: 2003-10-12
Line count: 13
Word count: 75
O Death, how bitter are you, when a man thinks about you, who has good days and plenty and lives worry-free and who is fortunate in all things, and even eats well! O Death, how bitter are you. O Death, how well you care for the poor, [he] who is weak and old, and beset by all sorrows, and has nothing better to hope for nor even to expect; O Death, how well you do.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translator's notes:
Line 1, word 4 - "bitter", in the sense of hateful or irritating.
Line 3, word 6 - "plenty", literally, “enough” to meet his needs
O Tod, wie bitter bist du is the third movement of Brahms’ last set of songs Vier ernste Gesänge, op. 121. Its text (Ecclesiastes 41:1-2) uses Luther’s translation of an ancient Jewish wisdom text from the book of Ecclesiasticus (also called the Book of Sirach). Brought up Lutheran in Hamburg, Brahms was familiar with both Martin Luther’s 1526 Deutsche Messe (one of the first plainchant settings of the mass to use German text) as well as Luther’s translation of the Bible and apocrypha. Luther printed his Apocrypha (found in the Greek Septuagint, but not in the Hebrew Masoretic text) between his Old and New Testaments, adapting a translation by his friends Philipp Melanchthon and Justus Jonas (professors of Greek and of Law at Wittenberg).
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard, (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 German (Deutsch) by Bible or other Sacred Texts , from Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), 41:1-2. [an adaptation]
Based on:
- a text in Latin by Bible or other Sacred Texts , Sirach, 41:1-4
This text was added to the website: 2023-08-16
Line count: 13
Word count: 75