Když mne stará matka zpívat, zpívat učívala,
podivno, že často, často slzívala.
A ted' také pláčem snědé líce mučim,
když cigánské děti hrát a zpívat učim!

About the headline (FAQ)

Note: many singable translations rely on the repetition of "zpívat" in the first line. It was not present in the original text.

The text shown is a variant of another text. [ View differences ]
It is based on

• a text in Czech (Čeština) by Adolf Heyduk (1835 - 1923), appears in Cigánské melodie, no. 22, first published 1859
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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Karel Bendl (1838 - 1897), "Když mne stará matka", from Cigánské melodie, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Když mne stará matka zpívat, zpívat učívala", op. 55 no. 4, B. 104 no. 4 (1880), from Cigánské melodie, no. 4, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in English, a translation by Natalie Macfarren (1826 - 1916) ; composed by Charles Edward Ives.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Adolf Heyduk (1835 - 1923) , no title ; composed by Antonín Dvořák.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ENG English (Gayle Royko Heuser) (Anna Majtas Royko) , "When my old mother taught me to sing", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English [singable] (Thomas Heck) , "When my mother taught me to sing", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Marc Moreau) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Maria Rita De Matteis) , "Quando la mia vecchia madre ancora mi insegnava a cantare", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) [singable] (Thomas Heck) , "Quando mia vecchia madre", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2004-01-16
Line count: 4
Word count: 26