Wer hat das erste Lied erdacht,
  Das in die Lüfte scholl?
Der Frühling fand's in lauer Nacht,
  Das Herz [von]1 Wonne voll;
Er sang es früh im Fliederbaum
  Und schlug den [Tact]2 dazu:
"O Maienzeit, o Liebestraum,
  Was ist so süß wie Du?"

Da kamen Mück' und Käferlein,
  Waldvöglein [sonder]3 Zahl;
[Die]4 übten [sich die Weise]5 ein,
  Wohl an die tausend Mal.
Sie trugen's durch den Himmelsraum
  Und durch die Waldesruh:
"O Maienzeit, o Liebestraum,
  Was ist so süß wie Du?"

Mir sang's am Bach die Nachtigall,
  Da ward mir wonnig weh;
Nun folgt das Lied mir überall
  Durch [Duft]6 und Blütenschnee.
Ich pflück' den Zweig vom Fliederbaum
  Und sing' es immerzu:
"O Maienzeit, o Liebestraum,
  Was ist so süß wie Du?"

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Die Gartenlaube. Illustrirtes Familienblatt, Band XXVII, Nr. 23 (1879), page 386.

¹ Weidt: "vor"
² Abt, Busoni: "Takt"
³ Abt: "ohne"
⁴ Busoni: "Sie"
⁵ Weidt: "ihre Weisen"
⁶ Busoni: "Luft"

Text Authorship:

• by Victor August Eberhard Blüthgen (1844 - 1920), "Das erste Lied" [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 Franz Wilhelm Abt (1819 - 1885), "Das erste Lied", op. 536 no. 1 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig: Röder [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz Wilhelm Abt (1819 - 1885), "Das erste Lied", op. 593 (Vier Lieder für vierstimmigen Männergesang) no. 1, published 1882 [ four-part men's chorus ], Leipzig, Forberg [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz von Blon (1861 - 1945), "Das erste Lied", published 1895 [ high voice and piano ], from [Elf] Lieder und Gesänge für 1 hohe Stimme mit Pianoforte, no. 10, Berlin, Tschentscher [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hermann Brandt (1840 - 1893), "Maienzeit und Liebestraum", op. 18, published 1882 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ferruccio Busoni (1866 - 1924), "Wer hat das erste Lied erdacht", op. 31 (Zwei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebleitung) no. 1 (1880), published 1884 [ mezzo-soprano or tenor and piano ], Triest, (Vicentini.) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Karl Courvoisier (b. 1846), "Das erste Lied", op. 17 (Drei Lieder für Sopran mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1880 [ soprano and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Otto Fiebach (1851 - 1937), "Das erste Lied", published 1880 [ voice and piano ], from An Susanne. Lieder der Liebe für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 14, Berlin, (Sulzbach) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wilhelm Karl Friedrich Fitzenhagen (1848 - 1890), "Das erste Lied", op. 54 (Zwei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 1, published 1890 [ mezzo-soprano or tenor and piano ], Berlin, Fr. Luckhardt [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alban Förster (1849 - 1916), "Das erste Lied", op. 83 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1883 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Christian Heinrich) Karl Grammann (1842 - 1897), "Das erste Lied", published 1880 [ soprano or alto and piano ], Berlin, Erler [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ferdinand Gumbert (1818 - 1896), "Das erste Lied", op. 123, published 1880 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Berlin, Bote & Bock [sung text not yet checked]
• by Eduard Hermes (1818 - 1905), "Das erste Lied", op. 81 (Vier Männerquartette) no. 2, published 1881 [ vocal quartet for male voices ], Berlin, Erler [sung text not yet checked]
• by Eduard Lassen (1830 - 1904), "Wer hat das erste Lied erdacht", op. 92 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 4, published 1893 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Junne [sung text not yet checked]
• by Emil Link , "Das erste Lied", op. 19 (Zwölf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 4, published 1885 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Uhse [sung text not yet checked]
• by Julius Neugebauer , "Das erste, Lied", op. 50 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 3, published 1880 [ voice and piano ], Breslau, Hientzsch [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arnold Nöldeke (1865 - 1945), "Wer hat das erste Lied erdacht?", published 1901 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 3, Offenbach am Main: Johann André [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ika Peyron (1845 - 1922), "Das erste Lied", published 1899 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder, no. 2, Hamburg, Leichssenring [sung text not yet checked]
• by Heinrich Reinhardt (1865 - 1922), "Das erste Lied", op. 28, published 1890 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Cranz [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Reinhardt , "Das erste Lied", op. 30, published 1889 [ voice and piano ], Basel, Reinhardt [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wilhelm Rudnick (1850 - 1927), "Das erste Lied", published 1900 [ voice and piano ], from Neue Kompositionen für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 1, Münster, Tormann [sung text not yet checked]
• by Otto Schmidt , "O Maienzeit, o Liebestraum", op. 10, published 1881 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Weinholtz [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Siewert , "Das erste Lied", published 1880 [ four-part men's chorus ], from Fünf Lieder für vierstimmigen Männerchor, no. 2, Berlin, Paez [sung text not yet checked]
• by Max Stange (1856 - 1932), "Das erste Lied", op. 19 (Vier Gesänge für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1888 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Raabe & Plothow [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wilhelm Sturm (1842 - 1922), "Das erste Lied", op. 53 no. 1, published 1886 [ men's chorus ], from Vier volksthümliche Gesänge für Männerchor, no. 1, Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
• by Heinrich Weidt (1824 - 1901), "Das erste Lied", op. 150, published 1890 [ voice and piano ], Wien, Bösendorfer [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Friedrich von Wickede (1834 - 1904), "Maienzeit und Liebestraum", op. 79, published 1880 [ voice and piano ], Kassel, Voigt [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Peter) Nicolai von Wilm (1834 - 1911), "Das erste Lied", op. 164, published 1899 [ men's chorus ], Magdeburg, Heinrichshofen's Verlag [sung text not yet checked]

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

• ENG English (John H. Campbell) , "Who invented the first song", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , John H. Campbell , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 122

Who devised the first song,
that into the air did resound?
Spring found it in the balmy night,
filling hearts with joy.
He sang it first in the lilacs
and the rhythm puls'd to it:
O May!  the time of love-dreams,
what is as sweet as you!

Then, little gnats and beetles came,
Forest birds marked the tune,
they practiced the style,
and by thousandfold;
they carried it thru' the heavens
and in all the forest is peace:
O Maytime joy, o time of love-dreams,
what is as sweet as you!

The nightingale sang to me by the brook,
and a sweet sadness o'er came me!
Now, the song follows me everywhere
through the air and snow-white blooms.
From the lilacs I gather a bouquet
and I always sing:
O Maytime, o time of love-dreams,
what is as sweet as you!
what is as sweet as you!