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by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
Translation © by Pierre Mathé

Errichtet keinen Denkstein. Laßt die...
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG FRE
Errichtet keinen Denkstein. Laßt die Rose
nur jedes Jahr zu seinen Gunsten blühn.
Denn Orpheus ists. Seine Metamorphose
in dem und dem. Wir sollen uns nicht mühn

um andre Namen. Ein für alle Male
ists Orpheus, wenn es singt. Er kommt und geht.
Ists nicht schon viel, wenn er die Rosenschale
um ein Paar Tage manchmal übersteht?

O wie er schwinden muß, daß ihrs begrifft!
Und wenn ihm selbst auch bangte, daß er schwände.
Indem sein Wort das Hiersein übertrifft,

ist er schon dort, wohin ihrs nicht begleitet.
Der Leier Gitter [zwingt]1 ihm nicht die Hände.
Und er gehorcht, indem er überschreitet.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   H. Birtwistle 

H. Birtwistle sets line 13

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Birtwistle: "zwängt"

Text Authorship:

  • by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Die Sonette an Orpheus 1, no. 5 [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 Harrison Birtwistle, Sir (1934 - 2022), "Elegy 12, Sonnet I, 5", 2003-04, line 13 [ oboe, harp and countertenor ], from Orpheus elegies, no. 16, Boosey & Hawkes [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Staffan Björklund (b. 1944), "Errichtet keinen Denkstein" [ voice and string quartet or piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Terje Bjørklund (b. 1945), "Errichtet keinen Denkstein. Laßt die Rose", 1987, first performed 1987 [ soprano, tenor, piano ], from Orfeus-elegier, no. 5, NB noter [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Terje Bjørklund (b. 1945), "Errichtet keinen Denkstein", 1987 [ soprano, piano ], NB noter [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "Errichtet keinen Denkstein", copyright © 2012 [ tenor and piano ], from Sonnets to Orpheus, no. 5, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Christian Holmqvist (b. 1974), "Errichtet keinen Denkstein", 2007, first performed 2013 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Sonette an Orpheus, no. 2, Music Finland [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Roman Palester (1907 - 1989), "Errichtet keinen Denkstein", 1952 [ soprano and orchestra ], from Drei Sonetten Orpheus : für Sopran und orchester , no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928 - 2016), "Errichtet keinen Denkstein", 1956 [ voice and piano or orchestra ], from Fünf Sonette an Orpheus, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, a translation by Margaret Dows Herter Norton (1894 - 1985) , appears in Translations from the Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, copyright © ; composed by George Perle.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Darrel Hale , title 1: "Sonnet V", title 2: "Rilke Sonnets to Orpheus ‐ Part One, ", copyright © 2018 ; composed by Jenni Brandon.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Robert Cogan.
    • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

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

  • ENG English (Knut W. Barde) , "Sonnet to Orpheus", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 103

N'érigez pas de mémorial. Laissez la...
Language: French (Français)  after the German (Deutsch) 
N'érigez pas de mémorial. Laissez la rose
seulement fleurir chaque année pour lui.
Car c'est Orphée. Ses métamorphoses
en celui-ci et celui-là. Nous ne devons pas nous soucier

d'un changement de nom. Une fois pour toute
s'il y a chant, c'est Orphée. Il va et vient.
N'est-ce pas déjà beaucoup si parfois il survit
de quelques jours à une coupe de roses ?

Ô il doit disparaître pour que vous le compreniez !
Même si lui-même a peur de disparaître.
Alors que sa parole dépasse ici sa présence,

il est déjà là-bas, où vous ne l'accompagnez pas,
Les cordes de la lyre n' exhortent pas sa main.
Et son obéissance est un dépassement.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2010 by Pierre Mathé, (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 Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Die Sonette an Orpheus 1, no. 5
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2010-06-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 111

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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

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