Once upon a time | Once upon a time," says the fairy tale woman

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by Wilhelmine Gräfin Wickenburg-Almasy (1845 - 1890)

Translation © by Iain Sneddon

Es war einmal", so spricht die...

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

"Es war einmal", so spricht die Märchenfrau,
Und aus vergang'ner Zeiten Dämmergrau
Retcht sie der Kinderschar
Die gold'nen Schätze dar.

Auch ich erzähl' in trüber Einsamkeit
Mir schöne Märchen aus vergangner Zeit
Und sprech in Sehnsuchtsqual ganz leis:
"Es war einmal."

Es war einmal und wird nicht wieder sein.
O Lust und Kraft, o Sang und Sonnenschein,
Ihr winkt von ferne her,
Ein Märchen und nicht mehr.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelmine Gräfin Wickenburg-Almasy (1845 - 1890) [author's text not yet checked 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 Albert Felix, Graf Amadei (1851 - 1894), ""Es war einmal" so spricht die Märchenfrau", op. 17 (Sechs Lieder für 1 mittlere Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 1, published 1892 [ medium voice and piano ], Hamburg, Rahter [sung text not yet checked]
by Bertha von Brukenthal (1846 - 1908), ""Es war einmal", so spricht die Märchenfrau", published 1895 [ voice and piano ], Wien, Gutmann [sung text not yet checked]
by Dora Pejačević (1885 - 1923), "Es war einmal", op. 23 (Sieben Lieder) no. 7 (1907) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Iain Sneddon) , "Once upon a time", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Il était une fois", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2013-02-08
Line count: 12
Word count: 67

Once upon a time

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

"Once upon a time," says the fairy tale woman,
And from bygone, twilight, times
Return them to the throng of children
The golden treasures.

I, too, tell stories in gloomy solitude
Beautiful fairy tales from a bygone era
And mutter very softly in the agony of longing:
"Once upon a time."

There was once and never will be again.
O pleasure and power, O song and sunshine,
You beckon from afar,
A fairy tale and nothing more.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2024 by Iain Sneddon, (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 Wilhelmine Gräfin Wickenburg-Almasy (1845 - 1890)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2024-03-05
Line count: 12
Word count: 77