by John Fletcher (1579 - 1625) and sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by L. A. J. Burgersdijk (1828 - 1900)
Orpheus with his lute made trees
Language: English
Available translation(s): GER
Orpheus with his lute made trees, And the mountain-tops that freeze, Bow themselves, when he did sing: To his music, plants and flowers Ever [sprung]1; as sun and showers There had made a lasting spring. Everything that heard him play, Even the billows of the sea, Hung their heads, and then lay by. In sweet music is such art: Killing care and grief of heart Fall asleep, or, hearing, die.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Note: according to Miscellanies, Issues 3-4, published by the New Shakspere Society of Great Britain, "Shakspere wrote only 1168.5 of the 2822 lines of the play. The rest are Fletcher's." The song is part of the Fletcher portion of Henry VIII, and appears in Act III scene 1.
1 Greene: "rose"; Blitzstein: "sprang"Text Authorship:
- by John Fletcher (1579 - 1625), no title, appears in Henry VIII [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Godfrey Edward Pellew Arkwright (1864 - 1944), "Orpheus with his lute", published [1902?] [ medium voice and piano ], from Nine Songs from Shakespeare, London, Joseph Williams [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marc Blitzstein (1905 - 1964), "Orpheus (Lucius's Song)", 1937 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ernst Alexander 'Sas' Bunge (1924 - 1980), "Orpheus with his lute", published 1950, from Four XVIIth century poems, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Reinhold Busch (1862 - 1943), "Orpheus with his lute", published 1903 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Orpheus" [ high voice and piano ], from Shakespeare Songs, Book III, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Chilcot , "The words by Shakespeare in Henry the Eight", published [1743] [ high voice, flute, 2 violins, and basso continuo ], from Twelve English Songs, London : Johnson ; [sic] on the title [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eric Coates (1886 - 1957), "Orpheus with his lute", published 1909 [ voice and piano ], from Four Old English Songs, no. 1, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Henry) Walford Davies, Sir (1869 - 1941), "Orpheus with his lute", published 1931 [ voice and piano ], from Twenty-one songs, no. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Herbert Foulds (1880 - 1939), "Orpheus with his lute", op. 87 (1925), first performed 1925 [ medium voice and strings ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Mary Ann) Virginia Gabriel (1825 - 1877), "Orpheus" [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Orpheus with his lute", op. 66 no. 7, published 1964 [ women's chorus, piano duet, and optional percussion ], from A Shakespeare Sequence, no. 7, London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
- by Steven R. Gerber (b. 1948), "Song4", 1988 [ medium voice and piano ], from Six Songs of William Shakespeare, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Edward German (1862 - 1936), "Orpheus with his lute" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maurice Greene (1696 - 1755), "Orpheus with his lute" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "Orpheus", 1914, published 1920 [ mezzo-soprano and instrumental ensemble ], from Five Elizabethan Songs (The Elizas), no. 1, first setting [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "Orpheus with his lute", 1920 [ voice and piano ], second setting [sung text not yet checked]
- by Evelyn D. Heathcote , "Orpheus with his lute", published 1870? [ voice and piano ], London : Ashdown & Parry [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Hundley (1930 - 2018), "When Orpheus played" [sung text not yet checked]
- by J. Frederick Keel (1871 - 1954), "Orpheus with his lute", published 1950 [ partsong for 2-part chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Noël Lee (1924 - 2013), "Orpheus", 1982 [ tenor, clarinet, violoncello, and vibraphone ], from Three Songs from Shakespeare, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by George Alexander MacFarren (1813 - 1887), "Orpheus, with his lute", 1864 [ chorus ], partsong [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Fonteyn Manney (1872 - 1951), "Orpheus with his lute", op. 3 (Five songs) no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Pasatieri (b. 1945), "Orpheus" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "Orpheus with his lute", op. 32 no. 1 (1938), published 1939 [ voice and piano ], from Two Shakespeare Songs (4th set), no. 1, London, Boosey [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Orpheus With His Lute", op. 398 (1953) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jason Rico (b. 1978), "Orpheus with his lute made trees" [ voice, viola ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Betty Roe (b. 1930), "Orpheus with his lute", published 1974 [ medium voice, flute, and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edmund Duncan Rubbra (1901 - 1986), "Orpheus with his lute", op. 8 (Four Songs) no. 4 (1923) [ voice and piano or harp ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Andrew Schneider (b. 1991), "Orpheus with his lute", 2007 [ ssa chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by William Howard Schuman (1910 - 1992), "Orpheus with his lute" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Stephen Smith , "Orpheus with His Lute", 2022 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "Orpheus with his lute", published 1927 [ voice and piano ], from Three New Old Songs, no. 2, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Arthur Sullivan, Sir (1842 - 1900), "Orpheus with his lute", published 1866 [ voice and piano ], from 5 Shakespeare Songs, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Orpheus with his lute", 1902, published 1903, first performed 1904 [ voice and piano ], first setting [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Orpheus with his Lute", 1925, published 1926 [ voice and piano ], from 3 Songs from Shakespeare, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Danish (Dansk), a translation by Edvard Lembcke (1815 - 1897) ; composed by Peter Arnold Heise.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Maurice Bouchor (1855 - 1929) ; composed by Charles Bordes.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Eduard Lassen, Georg Hendrik Witte.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Eduard von Bauernfeld (1802 - 1890) ; composed by Wilhelm Taubert.
- Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Wilhelm (Vilhelm) Eugen Stenhammar (1871 - 1927) ; composed by Wilhelm Eugen Stenhammar.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (L. A. J. Burgersdijk)
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- GER German (Deutsch) (Julia Hamann) , "Orpheus", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 70
Orpheus dwong der bomen toppen
Language: Dutch (Nederlands) after the English
Orpheus dwong der bomen toppen Ja, der bergen sneeuw'ge koppen Diep te buigen, als hij zong; Planten sproten allerween; 't Was of Meise zon en regen De aard tot eeuwig bloeien drong. Alles wat hem zingen hoorde, Golven, woeste, fel verstoorde, Bogen 't hoofd en gaven acht. O, muziek kan toov'ren, kluist'ren: Moordende angst en zorg, bij 't luist'ren slapen ze in of sterven zacht.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in English by John Fletcher (1579 - 1625), no title, appears in Henry VIII and misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Ton van der Steenhoven
This text was added to the website: 2010-01-14
Line count: 12
Word count: 65