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by Joseph Christian Freiherr von Zedlitz (1796 - 1869)
Translation © by David Wyatt

Nachts um die zwölfte Stunde
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG
Nachts um die zwölfte Stunde
Verläßt der Tambour sein Grab,
Macht mit der Trommel die Runde,
Geht wirbelnd auf und ab.

Mit seinen entfleischten Armen
Rührt er die Schlägel zugleich;
Schlägt manchen guten Wirbel,
[Reveille]1 und Zapfenstreich.

Die Trommel klinget seltsam,
Hat gar einen starken Ton,
Die alten todten Soldaten
Erwachen im Grabe davon.

Und die im tiefen Norden
Erstarrt in Schnee und Eis,
Und die in Welschland liegen,
Wo ihnen die Erde zu heiß;

Und die der Nilschlamm decket
Und der [arabische]2 Sand,
Sie steigen aus [ihren]3 Gräbern
Und nehmen's Gewehr zur Hand.

Und um die zwölfte Stunde
Verläßt der Trompeter sein Grab
Und schmettert in die Trompete
Und reitet auf und ab.

Da kommen auf luftigen Pferden 
Die todten Reiter herbei,
Die blutigen alten Schwadronen,
In Waffen mancherlei.

Es grinsen die weißen Schädel
Wohl unter dem Helm hervor.
Es halten die Knochenhände
Die langen Schwerter empor. 

Und um die zwölfte Stunde
Verläßt der Feldherr sein Grab,
Kommt langsam hergeritten
Umgeben von seinem Stab.

Er trägt ein [einfach]4 Hütchen,
Er trägt ein einfach Kleid,
Und einen kleinen Degen
Trägt er an seiner Seit.

Der Mond mit gelbem Lichte
Erhellt den weiten Plan,
Der Mann im kleinen Hütchen
Sieht sich die Truppen an.

Die Reihen präsentiren
Und schultern das Gewehr,
Dann zieht mit klingendem Spiele
[Vorüber]5 das ganze Heer.

Die [Marschälle]6 und Generale
Schließen um ihn [einen]7 Kreis,
Der Feldherr sagt dem Nächsten
Ins Ohr ein [Wörtchen]8 leis';

Das Wort geht in die Runde,
Klingt wieder fern und nah!
»Frankreich« [ist]9 die Parole,
Die Losung: »[Helena]10«.

[Das]11 ist die große Parade
Im Elisäischen Feld,
Die um die zwölfte Stunde
Der todte Kaiser hält.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   C. Loewe •   W. Pijper •   B. Randhartinger 

C. Loewe sets stanzas 1-5, 7, 9-15
W. Pijper sets stanzas 1-5, 7, 9-15
R. Schumann sets stanzas 1-5

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Fünfzig Jahre Deutscher Dichtung. 1820 bis 1870: Mit biographisch-kritischen Einleitungen herausgegeben von Adolf Stern, Volume 1, Leipzig, Verlag von Ed. Wartig, 1871, pages 15-158.

1 Loewe, Pijper, Randhartinger: "Reveill'"
2 Randhartinger: "arab'sche"
3 Loewe, Pijper, Randhartinger: "den"
4 Loewe, Pijper, Randhartinger: "kleines"
5 Loewe, Pijper: "Vorbei"
6 Loewe, Pijper, Randhartinger: "Marschälle"
7 Loewe, Pijper, Randhartinger: "den"
8 Randhartinger: "Wörtlein"
9 Loewe, Pijper: "heißt"
10 Loewe, Pijper: "Sanct Helena"
11 Randhartinger: "Dies"

Text Authorship:

  • by Joseph Christian Freiherr von Zedlitz (1796 - 1869), "Die nächtliche Heerschau" [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 Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Die nächtliche Heerschau", op. 23 (1832), published 1833, stanzas 1-5,7,9-15 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Willem Pijper (1894 - 1947), "Die nächtliche Heerschau", 1943, stanzas 1-5,7,9-15 [ voice and piano ], also set in French (Français) [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Benedikt Randhartinger (1802 - 1893), "Die nächtliche Heerschau", op. 50, published 1844 [ voice and piano ], Wien, Witzendorf [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Die nächtliche Heerschau: Nachts um die zwolfte Stunde", WoO. 11 no. 2, stanzas 1-5 [ voice and piano ], fragment [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Johann Baptist Zerlett (1859 - 1935), "Die nächtliche Heerschau", op. 219, published 1894 [ men's chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Auguste Marseille Barthélemy (1796 - 1867) and by François Joseph Pierre André Méry (1798 - 1865) ; composed by Willem Pijper.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (1783 - 1852) , "Ночной смотр", first published 1836 [an adaptation] ; composed by Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, Aleksei Nikolayevich Verstovsky, Mikhail Yur'yevich Viel'gorsky.
    • Go to the text.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (David Wyatt) , "The night-time review", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-10
Line count: 60
Word count: 285

The night‑time review
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
At night, the twelfth hour,
The drummer leaves his tomb,
Sounds a roll with his drum,
Goes whirling up and down
 
With his fleshless arms
He moves the sticks together
Beats out a real whirlwind
Calls Reveille and the Tattoo.
 
The drum sounds strange,
Has really a striking tone,
The old dead soldiers
Are woken from their graves by it.
 
Both those in the far north
Frozen in snow and ice,
And those lying in Italy,
Where the earth is too hot;
 
And those whom Nile's mud covers,
And the Arabian sand,
They climb from their graves
And take their guns in hand.
 
[...
...
...
...]

Over there come on airy steeds
The dead cavalrymen,
The old bloody squadrons
With many a weapon.
 
[...
...
...
...]

And at the twelfth hour
The Commander leaves his tomb,
Comes slowly riding here
Surrounded by his staff;
 
He wears a small hat,
He wears simple clothes,
And a small sword
He wears at his side.
 
The moon with yellow light
Brightens the wide plain,
The man in the small hat
Reviews his troops.
 
The ranks present
And shoulder arms,
Then with drum loud playing
The whole host marches past.
 
The Marshals and Generals
Close ranks in a circle
The Commander speaks to the nearest
A quiet word in his ear.
 
The word goes round,
Sounds again far and near,
"France" is the watchword,
The reply "St Helena".
 
That is the great parade
In the Elysian Fields1
Which, at the twelfth hour,
The dead Caesar holds.

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Elysian Fields: the home of the dead in Hades, but also (as "Champs-Elysées") a major boulevard in Paris

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2007 by David Wyatt, (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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Joseph Christian Freiherr von Zedlitz (1796 - 1869), "Die nächtliche Heerschau"
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2007-11-15
Line count: 60
Word count: 247

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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