LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,103)
  • Text Authors (19,447)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

Adagio
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG FRE
Traum gibt, was Tag verschloß;
Nachts, wenn der Wille erliegt,
Streben befreite Kräfte empor,
Göttlicher Ahnung folgend.
Wald rauscht und Strom, und durch der regen Seele
Nachtblauen Himmel Wetterleuchten weht.
In mir und außer mir
Ist ungeschieden, Welt und ich ist eins.
Wolke weht durch mein Herz,
Wald träumt meinen Traum,
Haus und Birnbaum erzählt mir
Die vergessene Sage gemeinsamer Kindheit.
Ströme hallen und Schluchten schatten in mir,
Mond ist und bleicher Stern mein vertrauter Gespiele.
Aber die milde Nacht,
Die sich über mich mit sanftem Gewölke neigt,
Hat meiner Mutter Gesicht,
Küßt mich lächelnd in unerschöpflicher Liebe,
Schüttelt träumerisch wie in alter Zeit
Ihr geliebtes Haupt, und ihr Haar
Wallt durch die Welt, und es zittern
Blaß aufzuckend darin die tausend Sterne.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, page 219.


Text Authorship:

  • by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Adagio", written 1912, appears in Feierliche Abendmusik, no. 3 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Hans Peter Nowak (b. 1932), "Adagio", 1983 [ voice and piano ], from Feierliche Abendmusik, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Josef Röösli , "Adagio", published 1977 [ reciter and piano ], from Feierliche Abendmusik, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Heinz Sälter , "Adagio", op. 13 no. 3 (1949) [ alto, four-part mixed chorus, piano, and orchestra ], from Feierliche Abendmusik nach Worten von Hermann Hesse, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Karl Franz Schwarz , "Adagio", 1948 [ voice and piano (or orchestra?) ], from Musik des Einsamen, no. 15 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Rudolf Töpfer (b. 1891), "Adagio", 1957, first performed 1958 [ baritone, clarinet, and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Adagio", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Adagio", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Adagio", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2009-05-08
Line count: 22
Word count: 123

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris