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Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind? Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind; Er [hat]1 den Knaben wohl in dem Arm, Er [faßt]1 ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm. Mein Sohn, was birgst du so [bang]2 dein Gesicht? - Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht? Den Erlenkönig mit Kron' und Schweif? Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif. - »Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir! Gar schöne Spiele spiel' ich mit dir; [Manch' bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand]3; [Meine]4 Mutter hat manch' [gülden]5 Gewand.« Mein Vater, mein Vater, und [hörest]6 du nicht, Was Erlenkönig mir [leise]7 verspricht? - Sey ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind; In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind. - »Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn? Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön; Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn, [Und]8 [wiegen und tanzen und singen]9 dich ein.« Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort Erlkönigs Töchter am [düstern Ort]10? - Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh' es genau; Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau. - »[Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt]11; Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch' ich Gewalt.« - Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an! Erlkönig hat mir ein [Leids]12 gethan! - Dem Vater grauset's, er reitet geschwind, Er hält [in Armen]13 das ächzende Kind, Erreicht den Hof mit [Mühe]14 und Noth; In seinen Armen das Kind war todt.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• A. Engelberg • A. Harder • J. Hille • T. Länsiö • C. Loewe • J. Reichardt • K. Reissiger • C. Schröter • L. Spohr • V. Tomášek • K. ZelterAbout 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, pages 183-184; and with Goethe's Schriften, Achter Band, Leipzig, bey Georg Joachim Göschen, 1789, pages 157-158.
First published in 1782 in Goethe's Singspiel "Die Fischerin" in the introductory scene (Dortchen's song).
1 Schubert (first version), Spohr: "hält"2 Spohr: "scheu"
3 Harder: "Manch bunte Blumen stehn an dem Strand"; Spohr: "Viel bunte Blumen sind am Strand"
4 Spohr: "Mein' "
5 Spohr: "güldnes"
6 Spohr: "hörst"
7 Spohr: "heimlich"
8 Schubert (4th version, in the repetition): "Sie"
9 Harder: "singen und tanzen und spielen"
10 Harder: "düstern Port"; Spohr und Hille: "düsteren Ort"
11 Harder: "Ich lieb' dich, mich reizt dein' schöne Gestalt"
12 Harder: "Leides"
13 Reissiger: "in den Armen", Spohr: "im Arme"
14 Schubert: "Müh'"
Text Authorship:
- by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Erlkönig", written 1782, first published 1782 [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 Gottlob Bachmann (1763 - 1840), "Erlkönig", op. 43, published 1798/99? [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Carl) Ludwig (Heinrich) Berger (1777 - 1839), "Erlkönig" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Blum (1786 - 1844), "Erlkönig", op. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Czerny (1791 - 1857), "Erlkönig", 1811 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Max (Traugott Maximillian) Eberwein (1775 - 1831), "Erlkönig", 1826 [sung text not yet checked]
- by August Engelberg (1817 - 1850), "Erlkönig", 1841 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Karl Feye (1848 - 1927), "Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?" [ soli, men's chorus, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by August Harder (1775 - 1813), "Erlkönig", op. 1 (Gesänge für die Guitarre) no. 5 [ voice and guitar ], Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Johannes Hille , "Erlkönig", op. 10 no. 2, a note on the score suggests that this be sung by three people: one singing the father, one the child, and one the Erlkönig [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Anselm Hüttenbrenner (1794 - 1868), "Erlkönig", 1829 [sung text not yet checked]
- by August Kestner (1777 - 1853), "Erlkönig" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bernhard (Joseph) Klein (1793 - 1832), "Der Erlkönig", published c1815/6 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Otto Klemperer (1885 - 1973), "Der Erlkönig", c1948 [sung text not yet checked]
- by H. Krich , "Erlkönig", op. 10, published 1890 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Rühle & Hunger [sung text not yet checked]
- by Huub de Lange (b. 1955), "Erlkönig", published 2004 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Drei Goethe Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Tapani Länsiö (b. 1953), "Erlkönig", 2002 [ chorus and string quartet ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Erlkönig", op. 1 no. 3 (1818) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Otto Ludwig (1813 - 1865), "Der Erlkönig" [ soli, chorus, and piano ], MS at Goethe-Museum, Düsseldorf [sung text not yet checked]
- by Émile Louis Victor Mathieu (1844 - 1932), "Erlkönig", from Six Ballades de Goethe (Deuxième Suite), no. 3, Bruxelles: Schott Frères, also set in French (Français) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Emilie Mayer (1821 - 1883), "Erlkönig", 1842 [ voice and piano ], first of two settings, unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
- by Emilie Mayer (1821 - 1883), "Erlkönig", 1870 [ voice and piano ], second of two settings, unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
- by Friedrich Methfessel (1771 - 1807), "Erlkönig", published c1805 [ voice and guitar ], from Zwölf Lieder mit Begleitung der Guitarre, no. 9, Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Borromäus von Miltitz (1780 - 1845), "Erlkönig" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], Dresden: Bei C. F. Meser [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ann Sheppard Mounsey (1811 - 1891), "Erlkönig", also set in English [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Erlkönig", published 1794 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Karl Gottlieb Reissiger (1798 - 1859), "Erlkönig" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Andreas Jakob Romberg (1767 - 1821), "Erlkönig", published 1793 [ voice and piano ], from Oden und Lieder fürs Clavier , no. 12, Bonn: Gestochen und zu haben bey Georg Welsch, Hofmusikus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Schlottmann (1826 - 1905), "Erlkönig", op. 44 (10 Goethe'sche Dichtungen) no. 8, published 1878? [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julius Schneider (1805 - 1885), "Erlkönig", 1828 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Corona Elisabeth Wilhelmine Schröter (1751 - 1802), "Der Erlkönig", 1782, published 1786 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf und Zwanzig Lieder. In Musik gesezt von Corona Schröter. [Erste Sammlung], no. 17, Weimar: Annoch bey mir selbst, und in Commission in der Hoffmannischen Buchhandlung [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Erlkönig", op. 1, D 328 (1815), published 1821 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Louis [Ludwig] Spohr (1784 - 1859), "Erlkönig", op. 154 no. 4 (1856), from Sechs Lieder für Bariton mit Begleitung von Violine und Klavier, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (1774 - 1850), "Erlkönig", op. 59 (Gedichte von Goethe: VII) no. 1 (1815?) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758 - 1832), "Der Erlkönig", 1797 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by John Wall Callcott.
- Also set in English, a translation by William Bartholomew (1793 - 1867) ; composed by Ann Sheppard Mounsey.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Jules Abrassart (1826 - 1893) ; composed by Émile Louis Victor Mathieu.
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
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Otokar Fischer) , "Král duchů"
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Erlkoning", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Geart van der Meer) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Walter Meyer) , "Who's riding so late through night, so wild?", copyright © 1995, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Knut W. Barde) , "The Elfking", copyright © 1998, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Walter Scott, Sir) , "The Erl-King"
- ENG English (Uri Liebrecht) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le roi des aulnes", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRI Frisian (Geart van der Meer) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "Elf-King", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Il re degli elfi", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Il Re degli Elfi", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Ofer Sheinberg , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 225
Chi cavalca a quest'ora, nella notte e nel vento? E' il padre con suo figlio; egli abbraccia stretto il bambino, lo regge sicuro, lo tiene al caldo. - Figlio mio, di che cosa hai paura, che ti nascondi il volto? - Non vedi tu, padre, il Re degli elfi? Il Re degli Elfi, con la corona e il manto? - Figlio mio, è una striscia di nebbia. - Caro bambino, vieni qui con me! Che bei giochi farò con te, tanti fiori variopinti sono sulla riva, mia madre ha tante vesti d'oro. - Padre, padre, non senti che cosa mi promette, piano piano, il Re degli elfi? - Stai buono, stai tranquillo, bimbo mio: è il vento che sussurra tra le foglie secche. - Bel fanciullo, vuoi venire con me? Le mie figlie avranno cura di te, le mie figlie guidano la danza notturna e ti cullano, danzano e cantano per te. - Padre, padre, non vedi là, le figlie del Re degli elfi, in quel luogo tetro? - Figlio mio, figlio mio, vedo, sì: brillano i vecchi salici grigi. - Io ti amo, mi affascina la tua bellezza, e se tu non vuoi, ti prendo per forza. - Padre, padre, ora mi afferra! Il Re degli elfi mi ha fatto del male. Inorridisce il padre, cavalca più forte, stringe fra le braccia il bambino che geme, giunge a casa con affanno e pena: nelle sue braccia il bimbo era morto.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2006 by Amelia Maria Imbarrato, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Amelia Maria Imbarrato. We have no current contact information for the copyright-holder.
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Erlkönig", written 1782, first published 1782
This text was added to the website: 2006-01-18
Line count: 32
Word count: 230