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Was macht den Lenz? -- Die Blumen? [O nein, o nein, o nein!]1 Die Blumen machen ihn nicht aus, [Ich habe]2 deren viel zu Haus, Der Blumen viele schön und licht; -- Und [habe]3 doch den Frühling nicht! Was macht den Lenz? – Die Sonne? [O nein, o nein, o nein!]1 Wie schaut der liebe Sonnenschein Nicht oft im Winter hell herein, Und wärmt und strahlt und spielt und malt, -- Das Herz im Leib ist gleichwohl kalt! Was macht den Lenz? -- Die Bläue? O nein, o nein, o nein! Und wirft der Himmel noch so blau Sein liebes Aug auf Strom und Au, So [wall' ich doch oft]4 trüb daher, Als ob es tief im Winter wär'. Was macht den Lenz? -- Die Liebe? Ja wohl, -- die Lieb' allein! Die Liebe, die mit Freud' und Scherz Erfüllt der Welten großes Herz, Die Liebe schwellt mit ihrem Hauch Das kleine Herz des Menschen auch!
E. Schön sets stanzas 1, 2, 4
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Johann Gabriel Seidl, Liedertafel, Wien: Carl Gerold, 1840, pages 246-247.
Note: in Schön's setting, in stanza 4, line 2 is shortened at first to "Ja wohl!" but returns to the full form of the line ("Ja wohl, -- die Lieb' allein!") in the repetition.
1 Schön: "O nein!"2 Abt, Schön: "Wir haben"
3 Abt, Schön: "haben"
4 Abt: "wallen wir doch"
Text Authorship:
- by Johann Gabriel Seidl (1804 - 1875), "Lenzfragen", appears in Liedertafel, in 6. Tändeleien, Reimspiele [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), "Lenzfragen", op. 76 (3 Duetten für Sopran und Bass mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1851 [ vocal duet for soprano and bass with piano ], Offenbach, André [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Franz Paul Lachner (1803 - 1890), "Lenz-Fragen", op. 64 (Drei Gesänge für vier Männerstimmen) no. 1, published 1842 [ vocal quartet for male voices a cappella ], München, Falter [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernst Methfessel (1811 - 1886), "Lenzesfragen", op. 17 (Sechs Gesänge für gemischten Chor (oder Quartett)) no. 4, published 1874 [ mixed chorus or vocal quartet ], Wien, Schreiber [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eduard Schön (1825 - 1879), "Lenzfragen", stanzas 1,2,4 [ voice and piano ], unpublished, confirmed with the manuscript in Huldigung der Tonsetzer Wiens an Ihre Majestät die allerdurchlauchtigste Frau Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie, Kaiserin von Österreich, Königin von Ungarn und Böhmen etc. Überreicht von der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde des österreichischen Kaiserstaates 1854 held in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Melanie Trumbull
This text was added to the website: 2020-06-24
Line count: 24
Word count: 155
How do you tell it's spring? -- By the flowers? [Oh no, oh no, oh no!]1 Flowers do not constitute spring, [I]2 have many of them at home, Many flowers beautiful and bright; -- And yet [I]2 do not have spring! How do you tell it's spring? -- By the sun? [Oh no, oh no, oh no!]1 How does the dear sunshine not Often gaze brightly [upon the world] in winter, And warms and beams and plays and paints,-- My heart in my body is nevertheless cold! How do you tell it's spring? -- By the blueness [of the sky]? Oh no, oh no, oh no! And though in ever so much blueness the sky May cast its dear eye upon river and meadow, [I]3 nevertheless often walk drearily along As if it were deep winter. How do you tell it's spring? -- By the presence of love? [Yes, indeed, -- by the presence of love alone!]4 Love, which with joy and jesting, Fills the great heart of the worlds, With its breath, love also swells The little heart of humankind!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Translations of titles:
"Lenzesfragen" = "Springtime questions"
"Lenzfragen" = "Springtime questions"
2 Abt, Schön: "We"
3 Abt: "We"
4 Schön: "Yes, indeed!", but "love alone" is inserted when text is repeated at the end
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2025 by Sharon Krebs, (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 Johann Gabriel Seidl (1804 - 1875), "Lenzfragen", appears in Liedertafel, in 6. Tändeleien, Reimspiele
This text was added to the website: 2025-04-22
Line count: 24
Word count: 181