possibly by John Fletcher (1579 - 1625) and possibly by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
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)Quoted in Shakespeare's Henry VIII, Act III scene 1
1 Greene: "rose"; Blitzstein: "sprang"
Authorship:
- possibly by John Fletcher (1579 - 1625), appears in Henry VIII [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
- possibly by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), appears in Henry VIII [author's text not yet checked 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 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 (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 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 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 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 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 text: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 70
Orpheus Laute hiess die Wipfel
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Orpheus Laute hiess die Wipfel Wüster Berge kahle Gipfel, Niedersteigen, wenn er sang Pflanz' und Bluth und Frühlingssegen Sprossten, wie wenn Sonn' und Regen, Folgten nur dem Wunderklang. Alle Wesen, die ihn hörten, Wogen selbst, die sturmempörten, Neigten still ihr Haupt herab. Solche Macht ward süssen Tönen, Herzensweh und tödtlich Sehnen Wiegen sie in Schlaf und Grab.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Musikalisches Wochenblatt, Volume 2, Part 1, Leipzig, 17 February 1871. II Jahrg., Nr. 8, cover page.
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English possibly by John Fletcher (1579 - 1625) and possibly by 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 Eduard Lassen (1830 - 1904), "Lied aus Heinrich VIII, von Shakespeare", op. 61 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 3, published 1877 [ voice and piano ], Breslau, Hainauer [sung text not yet checked]
- by Georg Hendrik Witte (1843 - 1929), "Heinrich VIII", op. 10 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1875 [ voice and piano ], Bremen, Praeger & M. [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2010-09-29
Line count: 12
Word count: 57