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Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at 

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by Hans Bethge (1876 - 1946)
Translation © by Emily Ezust

Die geheimnisvolle Flöte
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the Chinese (中文) 
Available translation(s): ENG FRE
An einem Abend, da die Blumen dufteten
Und alle Blätter an den Bäumen, trug der Wind mir
Das Lied einer entfernten Flöte zu. Da schnitt
Ich einen Weidenzweig vom Strauche, und
Mein Lied flog, Antwort gebend, durch die blühende Nacht.

Seit jenem Abend hören, wenn die Erde schläft,
Die Vögel ein Gespräch in ihrer Sprache.

Confirmed with Musikwissenschaft zwischen Kunst, Ästhetik und Experiment: Festschrift Helga de la Motte-Haber zum 60. Geburtstag, Reinhard Kopiez, herausgegeber, Königshausen & Neumann, 1998, page 267.


Authorship:

  • by Hans Bethge (1876 - 1946), "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", appears in Die chinesische Flöte [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Chinese (中文) by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "春夜洛城闻笛"
      • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Hans Altmann (1904 - 1961), "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", op. 24 (7 Lieder aus "Die chinesische Flöte") no. 1, published c1963 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Gottfried von Einem (1918 - 1996), "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", op. 8 no. 1 [ medium voice and piano ], from Fünf Lieder aus dem Chinesischen, no. 1, Boosey & Hawks / Bote & Bock [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Artur Immisch (1902 - 1949), "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", 1924 [ voice and piano ], from Sieben Lieder aus Die Chinesische Flöte von Hans Bethge, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Sigurd von Koch (1879 - 1919), "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", 1916 [ voice and piano ], from Die geheimnisvolle Flöte, no. 5, Stockholm: Elkan & Schildknecht, Emil Carclius [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Léonard Pieter Joseph Michielsen (1872 - 1944), "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", from Sechs Gesänge chinesischer Lyrik, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Krzysztof Penderecki (1933 - 2020), "Die geheimnisvolle flöte", 2007-2018 [ baritone and orchestra ], from symphony Chinesische Lieder, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Julius Röntgen (1855 - 1932), "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", op. 66 no. 8 (1916), published 1917 [ voice and piano ], from Chinesische Lieder, no. 8, Copenhagen: Wilhelm Hansen [sung text not yet checked]
  • by James Martin Simon (1880 - 1944), "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", op. 10 no. 1, from Drei Lieder aus der Chinesischen Flöte, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by (Johan Gustaf) Emil Sjögren (1853 - 1918), "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", op. 54 (Wenn nur ein Traum och Die geheimnisvolle Flöte) no. 2 (1911), published 1911 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Rudolf Wagner-Régeny (1903 - 1969), "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", 1921, from Lieder der Frühe, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Anton von Webern (1883 - 1945), "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", op. 12 (Vier Lieder für Singstimme und Klavier) no. 2 (1917) [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Egon Joseph Wellesz (1885 - 1974), "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", op. 15 no. 1 (1913), first performed 1966 [ voice and piano ], from Lieder aus der Fremde (nach dem Chinesischen von Hans Bethge), no. 1, Wien: Doblinger [sung text not yet checked]

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.
      • Go to the text.
  • 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.
      • Go to the text.
  • 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.
      • Go to the text.

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

  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The mysterious flute", copyright ©
  • ENG English [singable] (Mabelle Shapleigh) , "The Mysterious Flute"
  • FRE French (Français) [singable] (Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi) , "La Flûte mystérieuse"
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La flûte mystérieuse", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-12-09
Line count: 7
Word count: 55

The mysterious flute
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
One evening, when flowers were wafting their scents
and all the leaves were on the trees, the wind brought to me
the song of a far-off flute. Immediately I cut
a branch from the willow, and
my song flew to give answer through the blossoming night.
Ever since that evening, when the earth is sleeping,
the birds hear conversations in their language.

Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive -- https://www.lieder.net/

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Hans Bethge (1876 - 1946), "Die geheimnisvolle Flöte", appears in Die chinesische Flöte [an adaptation]
      • Go to the text page.

Based on:

  • a text in Chinese (中文) by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "春夜洛城闻笛"
      • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2003-12-09
Line count: 7
Word count: 62

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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