Au début, j'étais presque découragé | Au début, j'étais presque découragé

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by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)

Translation © by Pierre Mathé

Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FIN FRE ITA SPA

Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen,
und ich glaubt', ich trüg' es nie;
und ich hab' es doch getragen -
aber fragt mich nur nicht, wie?

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Poem headed with An Carl v. U Ins Stammbuch

Text Authorship:

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Junge Leiden, in Lieder, no. 8, first published 1819 [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 Leo d'Amant , "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen" [sung text not yet checked]
by János Bókay (b. 1858), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", published 1925, from Heine-dalok, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Karl (Carl Friedrich Julius Ludwig) Borchers (1840 - 1922), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", op. 4 (Drei Lieder) no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Leslie Crabtree (b. 1941), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", from Liederkreis, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
by Wilhelm Czerwinski (1837 - 1893), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", op. 16 (Drei Lieder für Mezzo-Sopran (oder Bariton) mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1875 [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ], Wien, Ludewig & Schmidt , also set in Polish (Polski) [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul Dessau (1894 - 1979), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", 1974 [ mezzo-soprano, unaccompanied ], from Drei Lieder für Edda Schaller, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Otto Dresel (1826 - 1890), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", op. 1 (Sechs Gesänge) no. 6, published 1846 [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard Farber (b. 1945), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen " [ voice and piano ], from Buch der Lieder - Junge Leiden - Lieder, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
by Heinrich Henkel (1822 - 1899), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen ", op. 41 (Zwölf Lieder für Sopran oder Tenor mit Klavierbegleitung) no. 7 (1898) [ soprano or tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Joseph Christoph Kessler (1800 - 1872), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", op. 53 (Zwei Lieder) no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Anna Krause , "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", op. 5 (Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 3, published 1882 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Schlesinger [sung text not yet checked]
by Franz Paul Lachner (1803 - 1890), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", from Zwei Lieder nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Rued Langgaard (1893 - 1952), "Anfangs wollt ich fast verzagen", 1916, lost, unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
by Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "Anfangs wollt ich fast verzagen", S. 311 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Hendrik Arnoldus Meyroos (1830 - 1900), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", op. 36 (Vier Gedichte) no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Victor Ernst Nessler (1841 - 1890), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", op. 28 no. 7, from Aus gebrochenem Herzen : acht Lieder, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Pabst (1846 - 1903), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", op. 25 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1885 [ voice and piano ], Stuttgart, Ebner [sung text not yet checked]
by Florence Richards , "Lied", 1931 [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Anfangs wollt ich fast verzagen", op. 24 no. 8 (1840), published 1840 [ voice and piano ], from Liederkreis von Heinrich Heine, no. 8, Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
by Juan María Solare (b. 1966), "Anfangs" [ baritone, clarinet, horn, violoncello ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Adolf Heinrich Sponholtz (1803 - 1852), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", op. 15 no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Edward Staempfli (1908 - 2002), "Anfangs wollt ich fast verzagen", op. 1 (Vier Lieder) no. 2 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Korstiaan Stougie (1908 - 1988), "Anfangs", 1947 [sung text not yet checked]
by George Sturm , "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", published 1956 [ soprano, flute ], from Heine Lieder, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Wolfgang Ulrich (1924 - 1995), "Anfangs", 1984, from Acht Heine-Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen", published 1885, from Album of German Songs (later published as Sixteen German Songs), no. 16, also set in English [sung text checked 1 time]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

by Richard Farber (b. 1945), "Buch der Lieder - Junge Leiden", 2014 [ voice and piano ]
- View the full text. [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937) , "At first I thought I should despair" ; composed by Maude Valérie White.
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Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Wilhelm Czerwinski.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Pyotr Isayevich Veinberg (1831 - 1908) , no title ; composed by Aleksandr Tikhonovich Gretchaninov.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 4
Word count: 24

Au début, j'étais presque découragé

Language: French (Français) after the German (Deutsch)

Au début, j'étais presque découragé,
Et je croyais ne jamais le supporter;
Et pourtant je l'ai bien supporté
Seulement, ne me demande pas comment.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2008 by Pierre Mathé, (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 Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Junge Leiden, in Lieder, no. 8, first published 1819
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2008-04-10
Line count: 4
Word count: 24