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Als Mahl beganns. Und ist ein Fest geworden, kaum weiß man wie. Die hohen Flammen flackten, die Stimmen schwirrten, wirre Lieder klirrten aus Glas und Glanz, und endlich aus den reifgewordnen Takten: entsprang der Tanz. Und alle riß er hin. Das war ein Wellenschlagen in den Sälen, ein Sich-Begegnen und ein Sich-Erwählen, ein Abschiednehmen und ein Wiederfinden, ein Glanzgenießen und ein [Lichterblinden]1 und ein Sich-Wiegen in den Sommerwinden, die in den Kleidern warmer Frauen sind. Aus dunklem Wein und tausend Rosen rinnt die Stunde rauschend in den Traum der Nacht.
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View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Werke. Kommentiere Ausgabe in vier Bänden, herausgegeben von Manfred Engel, Ulrich Fülleborn, Horst Nalewski, August Stahl, Band I Gedichte 1895 bis 1910, herausgegeben von Manfred Engel und Ulrich Fülleborn, Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1996, page 147.
1 Pászthory: "Licht-Erblinden"Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, written 1899, appears in Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 15, first published 1906 [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 Helmut Barbe (b. 1927), "Sommernacht", published 2003 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], from Nacht und Tanz. Vier Lieder nach Texten von Ludwig Uhland, Theodor Storm, August von Platen und Rainer Maria Rilke, no. 4, München, Strube Verlag [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul von Klenau (1883 - 1946), "Als Mahl beganns", 1918/1919, from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Kornetts Christoph Rilke, no. 15 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frank Martin (1890 - 1974), "Das Fest", 1942 [ alto and chamber orchestra ], from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 12 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Casimir von Pászthory (1886 - 1966), "Als Mahl beganns. Und ist ein Fest geworden", 1914, first performed 1914 [ reciter and piano ], from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 16, Leipzig: Fr. Kistner & C.F.W. Siegel, 1919 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Viktor Ullmann (1898 - 1944), "Als Mahl beganns. Und ist ein Fest geworden", 1944 [ reciter and piano ], from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, Zweiter Teil, no. 2, Mainz: Schott Music GmbH & Co., 1995 [sung text checked 1 time]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by Hermann Reutter (1900 - 1985), "Rast! Gast sein einmal. Nicht immer selbst", op. 31 no. 3, published 1947 [ medium voice and piano ], from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 3, Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne, London: Schott & Co. Ltd.
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Czech (Čeština), a translation by Ladislav Fikar (1920 - 1975) , copyright © ; composed by František Chaun.
- 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 English, [adaptation] ; composed by Lisa Bielawa.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Knut W. Barde) , "The celebration", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Margaret Dows Herter Norton) , no title, appears in The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke, no. 15, copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Cela commença comme un repas. Puis c'est devenu une fête", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: John Versmoren , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 90
It began as a meal. And it turned into a feast; you'd hardly know how. The high flames torched up, the voices flew about, confused songs clattered out of glass and brightness, and finally out of the ripened measures: the dance emerged. And it swept everyone along with it. What a crashing of waves there was in the halls, what a meeting each other, choosing each other, saying of good-byes and finding each other again, reveling in the bright lights and being blinded by lights and swaying in the summer winds that are in the dresses of warm women. Out of dark wine and a thousand roses the hour pours itself roaringly into the dream of the night.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 by Knut W. Barde, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, written 1899, appears in Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 15, first published 1906
This text was added to the website: 2006-04-07
Line count: 14
Word count: 118