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Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträuße winden, Dir wünscht ich dennoch schönern Strauß; Könnt ich die schönsten Lieder finden, Sie sprächen doch mein Herz nicht aus. Was auch aus freier Brust wir reden, Ein [Tiefstempfund'nes]1 sagt sich nicht, Es giebt ein reiches Blumeneden, Aus dem man keine Sträuße bricht. O nimm zum Strauß, den ich gebrochen, Zum Worte, das umsonst sich müht, Was ungepflückt, unausgesprochen In meiner Seele Dir erblüht.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Gedichte von Peter Cornelius, eingeleitet von Adolf Stern, Leipzig, C. F. Kahnt Nachfolger, 1890, page 4. Modern German would change "Sträuße" to "Sträusse", "giebt" to "gibt", etc.
1 Draeseke, Witte: "Tiefempfund'nes"Text Authorship:
- by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874), "Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträuße winden", appears in Gedichte, in 1. Lieder [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 Ingeborg Bronsart von Schellendorf (1840 - 1913), "Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträusse winden", op. 22 (Drei Gedichte) no. 1, published 1891 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt Nachfolge [sung text not yet checked]
- by Felix (August Bernhard) Draeseke (1835 - 1913), "Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträusse winden", op. 29 no. 1, published 1886 [ baritone or mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Liebes-Wonne und -Weh. Sechs Gesänge für Bariton (oder Mezzo-Sopran) mit Pianoforte, no. 1, Leipzig, Kistner [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ludwig Grünberger (1839 - 1896), "Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträusse winden", op. 49 (Fünf Lieder) no. 4, published 1891 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Felix Josef Mottl (1856 - 1911), "Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträusse winden", published 1892 [ voice and piano ], from 19 Gedichte deutscher Dichter, Heft II, no. 6, Berlin, Fürstner [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alexander Ritter (1833 - 1896), "Mit einem Strauß", op. 16 (Fünf Gedichte für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4 (1890-1), published 1891 [ voice and piano ], München, Aibl [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Bruno Schmidt (b. 1848), "Widmung", op. 14 (Fünf Lieder für eine Singstimme und Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1884 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Bahn [sung text not yet checked]
- by Oskar Richard Robert Wiemann (1870 - 1965), "Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträusse winden", published 1894 [ medium voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder für 1 mittlere Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 2, Leipzig, Rud. Dietrich [sung text not yet checked]
- by Georg Hendrik Witte (1843 - 1929), "Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträuße winden", op. 6 (Fünf Lieder für Sopran oder Tenor mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1867 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Bremen, Präger und Meier [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2007-07-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 70
If I could twine the loveliest bouquets, I would still wish you a more beautiful bouquet; If I could find the loveliest songs, They would yet not utter what is in my heart. Whatever we may speak from unfettered hearts, That which is [most deeply]1 felt cannot be uttered[;] There is a rich Eden of flowers From which one cannot pick bouquets. Oh take with the bouquet that I plucked, With the word that strives in vain, That which, not plucked [and] unuttered, Blooms for you within my soul.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Translations of title(s):
"Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträuße winden" = "If I could twine the loveliest bouquets"
"Mit einem Strauß" = "With a bouquet"
"Widmung" = "Dedication"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2022 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874), "Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträuße winden", appears in Gedichte, in 1. Lieder
This text was added to the website: 2022-10-23
Line count: 12
Word count: 90