Under der linden
an der heide
dâ unser zweier bette was
dâ [muget]1 ir vinden
schône beide
gebrochen bluomen unde gras
vor dem walde in einem tal!
Tandaradei
schône sanc diu nahtegal.

Ich kam gegangen
zuo der [ouwe]2
dô was mîn friedel komen ê.
Dâ wart ich empfangen
hêre frouwe,
daz ich bin sælic iemer mê!
Kust er mich? Wol tûsentstunt!
tandaradei
seht wie rôt mir ist der munt!

Dô [hete]3 er gemachet
alsô rîche
von bluomen eine [bettestat]4;
des wirt noch gelachet
inneclîche
kumt iemen an daz selbe pfat.
Bî den rôsen er wol mac -
tandaradei
merken wâ mirz houbet lac!

Daz er bî mir [læge
wesse ez]5 iemen
nu enwelle got so schamte ich mich,
[wes]6 er mit mir pflæge
niemer niemen
bevinde daz wan er [und]7 ich.
Und ein kleinez vogellîn -
tandaradei
daz mac wol getriuwe sîn!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Martin: "mugt"
² Martin: "oude"
³ Martin: "het"
⁴ Martin: "bette stat"
⁵ Martin: "laee,/ wessez" (typo?)
⁶ Martin: "Es"
⁷ Martin: "unt"

Authorship:

• by Walther von der Vogelweide (1170? - 1228?), "Under der linden" [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 Petr Eben (1929 - 2007), "Unter der Linden", published 1958 [ voice and piano ], from Šestero piesní milostných, no. 3, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hermann Hutter , "Unter der Linde an der Heide", published 1892 [ vocal quartet for male voices ], from Sechs Lieder für vier Männerstimmen, no. 1, Berlin, Ries & Erler [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frank Martin (1890 - 1974), "Unter der linden", 1960 [ voice and piano ], from Drey Minnelieder, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Raymond Murray Schafer (b. 1933), "Unter der Linden", 1986 [ voice and orchestra ], from Minnelieder, no. 13, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Reinhold Stöckhardt (1831 - 1901), "Die verschwiegene Nachtigall", op. 5 (Fünf Lieder für eine Sopranstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1873 [ soprano and piano ], Leipzig, Dörffel [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in English, a translation by Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803 - 1849) , "Song: Translated from the German of Walther von der Vogelweide", appears in The Poems Posthumous and Collected of Thomas Lovell Beddoes, first published 1851 [an adaptation] ; composed by Stephen Dodgson.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Pannier (1854 - 1931) , "Unter der Linden" ; composed by Engelbert Humperdinck, Hans Erich Pfitzner.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Joseph Simrock (1802 - 1876) , "Die verschwiegene Nachtigall", first published 1857 ; composed by August Bungert, Ferruccio Busoni, August Fischer, Edvard Grieg, Robert Kahn, Joseph Pembaur, Ethel Florence Lindesay Robertson, née Richardson, as Henry Handel Richardson, Hermann Riedel, Hans Michael Schletterer, Louis [Ludwig] Spohr, Max Stange, Julius Steenburg, Anton Urspruch.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , text arranged by Heinz Knorr from the version by Max Wehrli, in Deutsche Lyrik des Mittelalters, published by Manesse-Bibliothek der Weltliteratur, 1955 ; composed by Heinrich Karl Johann Hofmann, Stephan Krehl, Hermann Reutter.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Bruno Obermann , "Unter der Linde", first published 1886 ; composed by Franz Dannehl, Anton Rückauf, Eduard Schütt.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Alban Maria Johannes Berg, Bernhard Horwitz, Johann Lewalter.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by (Johann Christoph) Friedrich Haug (1761 - 1829) , "Das Geheimniss, nach Walter von der Vogelweide" [an adaptation] ; composed by Norbert Burgmüller, Eduard Kremser, Eduard Kreuzhage.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Joseph Simrock (1802 - 1876) , first published 1869 ; composed by Paul Geisler, Wilhelm Kienzl.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ENG English (Elisabeth Siekhaus) , "Under the linden tree", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-11-24
Line count: 36
Word count: 142

Under the linden
by the meadow,
where our bed was,
there you can find,
beautifully broken,
the flowers and the grass.
Before the forest in a valley--
       Tandaradei--
Beautifully sang the nightingale.

I came walking
to the meadow,
my lover had come there already before.
There I was received,
(Holy Virgin!)
for that I am happy forever.
Did he kiss me? At least a thousand times.
       tandaradei--
See, how red my mouth is!

There he made--
so splendidly,
a bed out of flowers.
Those will laugh,
heartily,
who come by on the path
and see by the roses,
       tandaradei--
where my head lay.

That he lay with me--
if anyone knew
(God forbid) I would be ashamed.
How he was with me,
Never, no one
may find out, except for him and me,
and a little bird
       tandaradei--
that will well keep my secret.