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In der hohen Hall' saß König [Sifrid]1: "Ihr Harfner! wer weiß mir das schönste Lied?" Und ein Jüngling trat aus der Schaar behende, Die Harf' in der Hand, das Schwerdt an der Lende. "Drei Lieder weiß ich; den ersten Sang, Den hast du ja wohl vergessen schon lang: Meinen Bruder hast du meuchlings erstochen! Und aber: hast ihn meuchlings erstochen! Das andre Lied, das hab' ich erdacht In einer [finstern, stürmischen]2 Nacht: Mußt mit mir fechten auf Leben und Sterben! Und aber: mußt fechten auf Leben und Sterben!" Da [lehnte]3 er die Harfe wohl an den Tisch, Und sie zogen Beide die Schwerdter frisch, Und fochten lange mit wildem Schalle, Bis der König sank in der hohen Halle. "Nun sing' ich das [dritte und]4 schönste Lied, Das werd' ich nimmer zu singen müd': König [Sifrid]1 liegt in [seim]5 rothen Blute, Und aber: liegt in [seim]5 rothen Blute!"
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Gedichte von Ludwig Uhland, Stuttgart und Tübingen, J. G. Cotta’sche Buchhandlung, 1815, page 193. Note for stanza 5: "seim" is an archaic form of "seinem"
Note: modern German would change the following spellings: "Schaar" -> "Schar", "Schwerdt" -> "Schwert", "rothen" -> "roten"
1 Loewe: "Siegfried"2 Kralik: "finsteren, stürmischen"; Loewe: "finstern und stürmischen"
3 Kralik, Loewe: "lehnt'"
4 Kralik: "dritte, das"
5 Loewe: "sein'm"
Text Authorship:
- by Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787 - 1862), "Die drei Lieder", appears in Balladen und Romanzen [author's text checked 1 time 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 Mathilde von Kralik (1857 - 1944), "Die drei Lieder", 1895 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Die drei Lieder (König Sifrid)", op. 3 no. 3 (1825) [ voice and piano ], confirmed with Loewe-Album, Band IV, Berlin :Schlesinger'sche Buch- und Musikhandlung (Rob. Lienau), sometime in the 1880's, pages 14 - 19 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Willi von Möllendorf (1872 - 1934), "Die drei Lieder", op. 11 (Drei Gesänge für eine Mittelstimme mit Pianoforte-Begleitung) no. 1 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig: D. Rahter [sung text not yet checked]
- by G. Scheller , "Die drei Lieder", op. 60 (Drei Gesänge für Bariton mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 1, published 1878 [ baritone and piano ], Hamburg, Hentze [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Die drei Lieder", AV 641 (1879) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Moritz Weyermann (1832 - 1888), "Die drei Lieder", op. 7 (3 Balladen) no. 3 [ tenor or soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), adapted by Richard Pohl (1826 - 1896) [an adaptation] ; composed by Robert Schumann.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (1783 - 1852) , "Три песни" ; composed by Mikhail Yur'yevich Viel'gorsky.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The three songs", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Dans la haute salle siégeait le roi Sifrid", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Ballata", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Melanie Trumbull , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 154
Nell'alta sala sedeva Re Sifrido: "Voi arpisti, chi sa per me il canto più bello?" E un giovanetto venne fuori svelto dalla schiera, l'arpa in mano, la spada al fianco: "Tre canti io so; il primo canto, che tu da tempo hai dimenticato: Mio fratello tu hai ucciso a tradimento, e allora - lo hai ucciso a tradimento! L'altra canzone, che ho composta in una notte oscura di tempesta: devi combattere con me per la vita e per la morte, e allora - devi combattere per la vita e per la morte!" Dunque, ecco che posa l'arpa sul tavolo, ed entrambi tirarono fuori la spada e combatterono a lungo con urla selvagge, fin che il re cadde nell'alta sala. "Ora canto la terza canzone, la più bella, che non mi stancherò mai di cantare: Re Sifrido giace nel suo rosso sangue, e allora - giace nel suo rosso sangue!"
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.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787 - 1862), "Die drei Lieder", appears in Balladen und Romanzen
This text was added to the website: 2006-04-02
Line count: 20
Word count: 146