by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)
Translation by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)
When thou commandest me to sing
Language: English  after the Bangla (Bengali)
When thou commandest me to sing it seems that my heart would break with pride; and I look to thy face, and tears come to my eyes. All that is harsh and dissonant in my life melts into one sweet harmony - and my adoration spreads wings like a glad bird on its flight across the sea. I know thou takest pleasure in my singing. I know that only as a singer I come before thy presence. I touch by the edge of the far-spreading wing of my song thy feet which I could never aspire to reach. Drunk with the joy of singing I forget myself and call thee friend who art my lord.
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Text Authorship:
- by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 2, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 2 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Philip Frederick Wright James (1890 - 1975), "When thou commandest me to sing", 1921?, from Four Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Peter Pieters (b. 1957), "When thou commandest me to sing", 200?, from Gitanjali, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Raymond Murray Schafer (b. 1933), "Gitanjali no. 2", 1962 [ soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, and women's chorus ], from Four Songs on Texts by Tagore, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Raymond Murray Schafer (b. 1933), "When thou commandest me to sing", 1991 [ soprano and orchestra ], from Gitanjali, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Naresh Sohal (b. 1939), "When thou commandest me to sing", 1985 [ baritone and orchestra ], from From Gitanjali, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rick Sowash (b. 1950), "When thou commandest me to sing", 1976 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Frederik van Eeden (1860 - 1932) , no title ; composed by Aleidus Coenen, Albert De Klerk.
- Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Jan Pouwels.
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- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Domingo Santa Cruz Wilson.
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- Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Dino Menichetti.
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- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Sergey Nikiforovich Vasilenko.
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- Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Andrea Butenschön (1866 - 1948) , first published 1915 ; composed by Edvin Kallstenius.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist)
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Quand tu m'ordonnes de chanter", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 15
Word count: 114