LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,102)
  • Text Authors (19,442)
  • 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

×

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
Translation © by Salvador Pila

Du braunes Holz, behutsam leg'
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG FRE
Du braunes Holz, behutsam leg'
Ich meine Hand an deine Wände,
Und prüfe Wirbel, Brett und Steg,
Ob ich kein neu Geheimnis fände.

Oft, wenn du glänzend von der Wand
Mich anblickst, scheint in dir zu rasten
Ein Ton, den noch mein Spiel nicht fand,
Den Menschenhände niemals faßten.

Oft auch beginnst du heimlich zart
In meinem Griffe zu erwarmen,
Als läg ein Freund seltsamer Art,
Ein Lieblingsfreund mir in den Armen.

Komm her! Sei noch einmal dem Drang
Der Schwermut so wie einst zu Willen,
Da du mir tröstend nächtelang
Die heiße Jugend halfest stillen!

Da war mein ängstlich fernes Ziel:
So, wie ich's heut' vermag, zu geigen . . .
O wäre mir und meinem Spiel
Noch jene keusche Jugend eigen!

About the headline (FAQ)

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., 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, pages 48-49.


Text Authorship:

  • by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Meiner Geige", written 1899, appears in Neue deutsche Lyriker III , in An die Schönheit, in Der Geiger, no. 3, first published 1919 [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 Richard Czelinski (1901 - 1969), "Meiner Geige", op. 3 no. 3 (1948) [ voice, piano, and violin ], from Der Geiger - Fünf Lieder nach Texten von Hermann Hesse, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Hans Wolfgang Sachsse (1891 - 1960), "Ricercar -- Meiner Geige ", op. 17 no. 3 [ baritone, violin, and piano ], from Partita für Violine, Bariton und Klavier auf die Worte des Zyklus "Der Geiger" von Hermann Hesse, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "To my violin", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2009-05-03
Line count: 20
Word count: 123

Tu, fusta bruna, poso amb cura
Language: Catalan (Català)  after the German (Deutsch) 
Tu, fusta bruna, poso amb cura
la meva mà damunt el teu cos
i examino clavilles, batedor i pontet
per veure si hi trobo un nou secret.

Sovint, quan tu, lluent, m’esguardes des de la paret
em sembla que a dintre teu rau
un so que jo, tocant, encara no he trobat,
que mai han copsat mans humanes.

Sovint també, furtiu i delicat, comences
a escalfar-te quan et tinc a les mans,
com si un amic d’una índole singular,
un amic predilecte es trobés als meus braços.

Vine aquí! Permet encara una vegada
la pruïja de la melangia com abans
quan durant nits senceres m’ajudaves
a calmar la meva fogosa joventut!

Llavors, el meu angoixant, llunyà objectiu era:
tocar el violí com avui ho puc fer...
Oh, si la meva manera de tocar
tingués encara aire de casta joventut!

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Meiner Geige" = "Al meu violí"
"Ricercar -- Meiner Geige " = "Ricercar -- Al meu violí"


Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2025 by Salvador Pila, (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 Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Meiner Geige", written 1899, appears in Neue deutsche Lyriker III , in An die Schönheit, in Der Geiger, no. 3, first published 1919
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2025-06-08
Line count: 20
Word count: 139

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