Ach wer bringt die schönen Tage,
Jene Tage der ersten Liebe,
Ach wer bringt nur eine Stunde
Jener holden Zeit zurück!

Einsam nähr' ich meine Wunde
Und mit stets erneuter Klage
Traur' ich [um's verlorne]1 Glück.

Ach, wer bringt die schönen Tage,
[Jene holde Zeit zurück!]2

A. Berg sets stanzas 1-2

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke, Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand, Erster Band, Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cottaschen Buchhandlung, 1827, page 63; and with Goethe's Schriften. Achter Band. Leipzig, bey Georg Joachim Göschen, 1789, page 113.

First written 1785 by Goethe for his fragmentary Singspiel "Die ungleichen Hausgenossen" (Arie der Baronesse, Act II), with different stanzas 2 and 3.

¹ Nägeli: "um verlornes"
² Schubert: "Wer jene holde Zeit zurück!"; Medtner, Zelter: "Wer bringt die holde, süße, liebe Zeit zurück?"

Text Authorship:

• by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Erster Verlust", first published 1789 [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 Joseph Abenheim (1804 - 1891), "Erster Verlust", op. 72 (Sechs Goethe-Lieder für Mezzo-Sopran (oder Bariton) mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 2, published 1878 [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ], Stuttgart, Ebner [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Andreas Anschütz (1772 - 1855?), "Erster Verlust", c1816 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Algernon Bennet Langton Ashton (1859 - 1937), "Erster Verlust", op. 82 (Vier kurze Lieder für 1 tiefe Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1895 [ low voice and piano ], Leipzig, Hofbauer [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Johann Gottfried) Heinrich Bellermann (1832 - 1903), "Ach, wer bringt die schönen Tage", op. 10 (Sechs Lieder) no. 2, published 1866 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Trautwein [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alban Maria Johannes Berg (1885 - 1935), "Erster Verlust", 1905, stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ], from Jugendlieder, Vol. II (1904-08), no. 36 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Andreas Peter Berggreen (1801 - 1880), "Erster Verlust", 1860, published 1872, in Gedichte von Göthe, Kopenhagen, Reitzel, pp. 28f. [sung text not yet checked]
• by Michael Brough (b. 1960), "Erster Verlust", op. 22 (Neun Lieder und Gesänge) no. 7 (2002-7) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karl Collan (1828 - 1871), "Erster Verlust" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Berthold Damcke (1812 - 1875), "Erster Verlust", op. 41 (Vier Lieder) no. 4, published 1857 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Moritz, Graf von Dietrichstein (1775 - 1864), "Erster Verlust", c1813/4 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Otto Dorn (1848 - 1931), "Erster Verlust", published 1878 [ voice and piano ], from Lieder-Album. Acht Gedichte für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 2, Berlin, Weinholtz  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Otto Dresel (1826 - 1890), "Ach, wer bringt dir schönen Tagen", 1852 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Evers (1819 - 1875), "Erster Verlust", op. 95 (Fünf Lieder) no. 5, published [1874] [ voice and piano ], Wien, Friedrich Schreiber, k.k. Hof-Kunst- u. Musikalienhandlung (vormals C.A. Spina) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Pierre-Octave Ferroud (1900 - 1936), "Erster Verlust", 1932, published 1932 [ high voice and piano or orchestra ], from Drei traute Gesänge, no. 2, Éd. Durand [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gottfried Wilhelm Fink (1783 - 1846), "Erster Verlust", op. 18 no. 1, published 1807 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Cornelius Wilhelm de Groot (1914 - 1993), "Erster Verlust", published 194-?, from 7 Goethe Lieder, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Wilhelm Grund (1791 - 1874), "Erster Verlust", published c1830, from Sechs Lieder von Goethe, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Moritz Hauptmann (1792 - 1868), "Erster Verlust", op. 37 (Sechs Lieder) no. 3, published 1852 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Siegel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karl Friedrich Ludwig Hellwig (1773 - 1838), "Erster Verlust" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Fanny Hensel (1805 - 1847), "Erster Verlust", H-U 18 (1820) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Gottlieb Hering (1766 - 1853), "Erster Verlust" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl August Heymann-Rheineck (1854 - 1922), "Erster Verlust", op. 2 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 5, published 1882 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Schlesinger [sung text not yet checked]
• by Adolf Jensen (1837 - 1879), "Erster Verlust", 1855-1857 [ voice and piano ], from 7 Lieder, no. 6, MS at Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, München [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Theodor Fürchtegott Kirchner (1823 - 1903), "Erster Verlust", op. 1 (Zehn Lieder) no. 5, published 1842 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Whistling [sung text not yet checked]
• by Armin Knab (1881 - 1951), "Erster Verlust", 1924-46, from Zwölf Lieder nach Gedichten von J. W. von Goethe, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Aloys Kothe , "Erster Verlust", op. 8 (Lieder und Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 6, published 1881 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Leobschütz, Kothe [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Krill (1847 - 1927), "Ach, wer bringt die schönen Tage", op. 12 no. 1, published 1879 [ low voice and piano ], from Hohe Liebe. Sechs Lieder für 1 tiefe Stimme mit Pianoforte, no. 1, Berlin, Luckhardt [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Friedrich Bonneval de La Trobe (1769 - 1845), "Erster Verlust", from Zwölf deutsche Lieder, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Adolf Fredrik Lindblad (1801 - 1878), "Erster Verlust", 1824 [ voice and piano ], from Sånger och Visor vid Pianoforte. 1:sta delen, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (1880 - 1951), "Erster Verlust", op. 6 no. 8 (1904), from Neun Lieder von W. Goethe, no. 8, also set in Russian (Русский) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), "Erster Verlust", op. posth. 99 (Sechs Gesänge für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1 (1841) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz Milcke , "Erster Verlust", op. 9 (Fünf Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1892 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Ries & Erler [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hans Georg Nägeli (1773 - 1836), "Erster Verlust", 1797 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Friedrich August Naubert (1839 - 1897), "Erster Verlust", op. 5 (Neun Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 9, published 1877 [ voice and piano ], Weimar, Kühn [sung text not yet checked]
• by Moses Pergament (1893 - 1977), "Erster Verlust", 1916 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Albert Quinche (1867 - 1944), "Erster Verlust", published 1894? [ voice and piano ], from Sieben Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Eduard Rappoldi (1831 - 1903), "Erster Verlust", op. 4 (Acht Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 7, published 1874 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Bote & Bock [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Erster Verlust", published 1793 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ethel Florence Lindesay Robertson, née Richardson (1870 - 1946), as Henry Handel Richardson, "Erster Verlust" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Denise Isabelle Roger (1924 - 2005), "Erster Verlust", 2002 [ baritone, unaccompanied ], from Deux poèmes de Goethe pour baryton seul, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ernst (Friedrich Karl) Rudorff (1840 - 1916), "Erster Verlust ", op. 2 (Sechs Lieder) no. 5, published 1864 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Senff [sung text not yet checked]
• by Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Erster Verlust", op. 15 (Sechs Lieder für mittlere und höhere Stimme und Klavier) no. 5 (1908) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Erster Verlust", op. 5 (Fünf Lieder) no. 4, D 226 (1815), published 1821 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Johann Xaver Sterkel (1750 - 1817), "Erster Verlust" [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Gedichte von Goethe mit Clavierbegleitung, no. 5, Bonn und Cöln, Nikolaus Simrock [sung text not yet checked]
• by Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (1774 - 1850), "Erster Verlust", op. 56 (Gedichte von Goethe: IV) no. 3 (1815?) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wendelin Weißheimer (1838 - 1910), "Erster Verlust" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Justus Hermann Wetzel (1879 - 1973), "Erster Verlust" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hermann Wichmann (1824 - 1905), "Lied", op. 25 no. 12, published 1860 [ voice and piano ], from Lieder-Album, no. 12, Berlin, Bahn [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Erster Verlust", op. 9 no. 3 (1876) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz Wüllner (1832 - 1902), "Erster Verlust", op. 39 (Sechs vierstimmige Lieder für gemischten Chor) no. 6, published 1862? [ mixed chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758 - 1832), "Erster Verlust", 1807 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Luigi Balestra (1808 - 1863) ; composed by Giuseppe Verdi.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Fabio Nannarelli (1825 - 1894) ; composed by Julián Aguirre, Giovanni Sgambati.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Nikolai Karlovich Medtner.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Mikhail Larionovich Mikhailov (1829 - 1865) , "Первая потеря" ; composed by Ilya Vasilyevich Nekrasov, Boris Vladimirovich Podgoretsky.
  • Go to the text.
    

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• CAT Catalan (Català) (Manuel Capdevila i Font) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Eerste verlies", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "First loss", copyright ©
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Premier manque", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Ah, chi mi riporterà i giorni belli", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , "Det første tap", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Richard Morris , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 9
Word count: 48

Ai, qui farà tornar aquells bells dies,
aquells dies del primer amor,
ai, qui farà tornar només una hora
d’aquella època feliç!

Solitari, alimento la meva ferida,
i amb queixes sempre renovades,
ploro per la meva felicitat perduda.

Ai, qui farà tornar aquells bells dies,
aquells dies del primer amor!