Er läuft um die Wette mit brennenden Gängen, durch Türen, die ihn glühend umdrängen, über Treppen, die ihn versengen, bricht er [aus aus]1 dem rasenden Bau. Auf seinen Armen trägt er die Fahne wie eine weiße, bewußtlose Frau. Und er findet ein Pferd, und es ist wie ein Schrei: über alles dahin und an allem vorbei, auch an den Seinen. Und da kommt auch die Fahne wieder zu sich und niemals war sie so königlich; und jetzt sehn [sie sie]2 alle, fern voran, und erkennen den hellen, helmlosen Mann und erkennen die Fahne . . . Aber da fängt sie zu scheinen an, wirft sich hinaus und wird groß und rot . . . -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Da brennt ihre Fahne mitten im Feind, und sie jagen ihr nach.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Werke. Kommentiere Ausgabe in vier Bänden, herausgegeben von Manfred Engel, Ulrich Fülleborn, Horst Nalewski, August Stahl, Band I Gedichte 1895 bis 1910, herausgegeben von Manfred Engel und Ulrich Fülleborn, Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1996, page 151.
1 Reutter: "aus"2 Reutter: "sie"
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, written 1899, appears in Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 25, first published 1906 [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 Paul von Klenau (1883 - 1946), "Er läuft um die Wette", 1918/1919, from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Kornetts Christoph Rilke, no. 25 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frank Martin (1890 - 1974), "Die Fahne", 1942 [ alto and chamber orchestra ], from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 21 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Casimir von Pászthory (1886 - 1966), "Er läuft um die Wette mit brennenden Gängen", published 1912 [ reciter and piano ], from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 26, Leipzig: Fr. Kistner & C.F.W. Siegel, 1919 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Viktor Ullmann (1898 - 1944), "Er läuft um die Wette mit brennenden Gängen", 1944 [ reciter and piano ], from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, Zweiter Teil, no. 7, Mainz: Schott Music GmbH & Co., 1995 [sung text checked 1 time]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by Hermann Reutter (1900 - 1985), "Ist das der Morgen? Welche Sonne geht auf?", op. 31 no. 5, published 1947 [ medium voice and piano ], from Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 5, Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne, London: Schott & Co. Ltd.
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Margaret Dows Herter Norton (1894 - 1985) , no title, appears in The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke, no. 25 ; composed by Lisa Bielawa.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Knut W. Barde) , copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: John Versmoren , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 19
Word count: 128
He is running a race with burning halls, [through doors that press him close, red-hot, over stairs that scorch him, he breaks forth out of the raging pile.]1 Upon his arms he carries the flag like a white, insensible woman. And he finds a horse, and it’s like a cry: away over all, passing everything by, even his own men. And then the flag comes to itself again, and it has never been so kingly; and now they all see it, [far ahead, and know the shining, helmetless man and know the flag]1 ... But, behold, it begins to glow, flings itself out and grows wide and red ... — — — — — — — Their flag is aflame in the enemy’s [midst, and they gallop after.]2
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with M. D. Herter Norton, The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke, W. W. Norton & Company, 1963. Note: this is a prose text with arbitrary line-breaks added.
1 omitted by Bielawa.2 Bielawa: "midst."
Text Authorship:
- by Margaret Dows Herter Norton (1894 - 1985), no title, appears in The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke, no. 25 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, written 1899, appears in Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, no. 25, first published 1906
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Lisa Bielawa (b. 1968), "It Has Never Been So Kingly", first performed 2006 [ baritone and piano ], from The Lay of the Love and Death, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2023-11-04
Line count: 19
Word count: 129