by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
Was will die einsame Thräne?
Language: German (Deutsch)
Chosen for Diff
Was will die einsame Thräne? Sie trübt mir ja den Blick. Sie blieb aus alten Zeiten In meinem Auge zurück. Sie [hatte]1 viel' leuchtende Schwestern, Die alle zerflossen sind, Mit meinen Qualen und Freuden, Zerflossen in Nacht und Wind. Wie Nebel sind auch zerflossen Die blauen Sternelein, Die mir [jene]2 Freuden und Qualen Gelächelt ins Herz hinein. Ach, meine Liebe selber Zerfloß wie eitel Hauch! Du alte, einsame Thräne, Zerfließe jetzunder auch!
F. Van der Stucken sets stanza 1
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with Buch der Lieder von Heinrich Heine, Sechsundfünfzigste Auflage (56th edition), Hamburg, Hoffmann und Campe, 1887, page 147. Note: in this edition, the poem is number 29.
Modern German would change "Thräne" to "Träne".
1 Franz: "hat"2 Cornelius: "die"
Text Authorship:
- by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), title 1: "Was will die einsame Träne", title 2: "Was will die einsame Thräne?", appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 27 [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 Eyvind Alnæs (1872 - 1932), "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 6 (Fünf Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte = Fem Sange til Texter for en Mellemstemme) no. 4, published 1897 [ voice and piano ], Christiania, Warmuth [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Emma Babnigg (1823 - 1904), "Die Träne", op. 6 (Lieder) no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Heike Beckmann (b. 1959), "Was will die einsame Träne" [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Johann Gottfried) Heinrich Bellermann (1832 - 1903), "Was will die einsame Träne" [ voice, piano, violin obbligato ], from Zwölf Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 12, Magdeburg, Heinrichshofen's Verlag (also published in 1877 by Berlin, Bahn) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julius Benoni (1833 - 1870), "Die Träne", published 1850, from Zwei Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hans von Blome (1834 - 1921), "Die Träne", op. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by János Bókay (b. 1858), "Was will die einsame Träne", published 1925, from Heine-dalok, no. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nadia Boulanger (1887 - 1979), "Was will die einsame Träne?", published 1909 [ voice and piano ], Heugel, also set in French (Français) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hans (August Alexander) Bronsart (1830 - 1913), "Was will die einsame Träne", published 1855, from 30 Lieder, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Pyotr Petrovich Bulakhov (1822 - 1885), "Was will die einsame Träne", also set in Russian (Русский) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hans Guido, Freiherr von Bülow (1830 - 1894), "Was will die einsame Träne", from Sechs Lieder von Heinrich Heine, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jeannette Antonie Bürde, née Milder (c1799 - 1875), "Die einsame Träne", op. 9 (Drei Gesänge) no. 3, published 1850 [ alto or bass and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Akos von Buttykay (1871 - 1935), "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 2 (Drei Lieder) no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874), "Die Heimkehr", 1848 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Lieder, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Carl Heinrich Cornill (1854 - 1920), "Was will die einsame Träne", from Lieder, no. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Anton Antonovich Derfeldt (1810 - 1869), "Was will die einsame Träne" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bernard van Dieren (1887 - 1936), "Was will die einsame Träne", 1930, published 1930 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Aleksandr Ivanovich Dyubyuk (1812 - 1897), "Was will die einsame Träne", also set in Russian (Русский) [sung text not yet checked]
- by O. Esfonde , "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 2 (Lieder) no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alexander Fesca (1820 - 1849), "Die einsame Träne", op. 32 (Sechs Lieder für Sopran oder Tenor mit Piano) no. 3, published 1844 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Braunschweig, Meyer [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Karl August Friedrich Fetzer (1809 - 1885), "Die Träne", op. 2 (Sechs Lieder) no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Franz (1815 - 1892), "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 34 (Sechs Lieder) no. 1 (1861?), published 1861 [ voice and piano ], Breslau, Leuckart [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Fr. Gartner , "Die einsame Träne", op. 9 (Sechs Lieder), Heft 2 no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Christian Friedrich Grimmer (1798 - 1850), "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 6 (Sechs Lieder von H. Heine) no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ferdinand Gumbert (1818 - 1896), "Die einsame Träne", op. 91 (5 Lieder für Sopran (oder Tenor) mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1859 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Leipzig, Siegel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Aleksandr Lvovich Gurilyov (1803 - 1858), "Was will die einsame Träne" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Stephen (István) Heller (1813 - 1888), "Was will die einsame Träne", 1830-8?, published <<1835, from Sieben deutsche Lieder, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fanny Hensel (1805 - 1847), "Was will die einsame Träne", 1827 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Hermann (1869 - 1912), "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 5 (Sechs kleine Lieder für 1 mittlere Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 5, published 1895 [ medium voice and piano ], Leipzig, Junne [sung text not yet checked]
- by M. Hermann-Ehren , "Die einsame Träne" [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Béla Hiloczky , "Was will die einsame Träne", from Zwei Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Caspar René Hirschfeld (b. 1965), "Die einsame Träne", op. 52 (10 heimliche Liebeslieder nach Texten von Heinrich Heine) no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Vojtěch Hlaváč (1849 - 1911), "Was will die einsame Träne", also set in Russian (Русский) [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Heinrich) Otto Jaritz , "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 6 (Lieder) no. 2, published 1876 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Hentze [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Karl) Emil Kauffmann (1836 - 1909), "Die einsame Träne", op. 7 (Vier Lieder) no. 3, published 1866 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Stuttgart, Zumsteeg [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gennady Osipovich Korganov (1858 - 1890), "Was will die einsame Träne" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz Paul Lachner (1803 - 1890), "Die einsame Träne", op. 33, Heft 3 no. 2, from Sängerfahrt : sechzehn Lieder nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine, no. 13 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Eduard Lassen (1830 - 1904), "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 94 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1895 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Martin Lesser , "Was will die einsame Träne", from Zwei Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alfred von Lindheim, jun. , "Was will die einsame Thräne", op. 5, published 1893 [ voice and piano ], from Neun Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 5, Wien, Doblinger [sung text not yet checked]
- by Heinrich Lorscheidt , "Die einsame Träne" [sung text not yet checked]
- by L. Lüdecke , "Was will die einsame Träne" [ duet for 2 voices and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Lührss (1824 - 1882), "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 11 (6 Lieder) no. 5, published 1845 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
- by George Alexander MacFarren (1813 - 1887), "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 51 (Drei Lieder aus H. Heines Reisebildern) no. 3, published 1845 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ladislao (László) de Makray , "Die einsame Träne" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leonid Dimitrievitch Malashkin (1842 - 1902), "Was will die einsame Träne" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), "Was will die einsame Träne", <<1837 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest Nikolayevich Merten (1814 - 1876), "Die einsame Träne", op. 10 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1883 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt, also set in Russian (Русский) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "Was will die einsame Thräne?", op. 339 (Acht Lieder nach Heinrich Heine) no. 5 (2022) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Victor Ernst Nessler (1841 - 1890), "Die Träne", op. 43 (Vier Lieder von Heine) no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sigismund von Neukomm (1778 - 1858), "Die einsame Thräne : die Worte von Heine : strophen Lied", 1853 [sung text not yet checked]
- by R. Nietzsche , "Die einsame Träne", from Drei Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alfred Reisenauer (1863 - 1907), "Was will die einsame Träne", from Traurige Lieder, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karl Gottlieb Reissiger (1798 - 1859), "Was will die einsame Thräne?", op. 96 (Ernste und heitere Lieder) no. 8, published 1834, from Ernste und heitere Lieder für Mezzosopran, Alt, Bariton oder Bass, no. 8, Berlin, Schlesinger [sung text not yet checked]
- by Josef Roch , "Was will die einsame Thräne", published 1876 [ tenor and piano ], Budapest, Táborszky & Parsch , also set in Hungarian (Magyar) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Scott Root , "Was will die einsame Träne", c1999, from Herzen-Tränen : three art songs on texts by Heinrich Heine, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hermann Schellenberg , "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 6 (Fünf Lieder) no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by G. Scheller , "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 1 (Zwölf Lieder), Heft 2 no. 12 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Peter Petrovich Schenk , "Was will die einsame Träne" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolf Schimon (1820 - 1887), "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 28 (Lieder), Heft 2 no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julius Caesar Schmidt (1818 - 1906), "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 3 (Lieder) no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 25 no. 21 (1840), published 1840 [ voice and piano ], from Myrten, no. 21, Leipzig, Kistner
Score: IMSLP [external link] [sung text not yet checked] - by Ferdinand Sieber (1822 - 1895), "Die Träne", op. 14 (Lieder) no. 4 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frantisek Zdenek Xavier Alois Skuhersky (1830 - 1892), "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 6 (Drei Gedichte von H. Heine) no. 3 [ bass and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nikolay Aleksandrovich Sokolov (1859 - 1922), "Was will die einsame Träne" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julius Stern (1820 - 1883), "Die Träne", op. 17 (Vier Lieder) no. 3, published 1843 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Berlin, Schlesinger [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sigismund Thalberg (1812 - 1871), "Die Träne", op. 11 (Sechs deutsche Lieder, Zweites Heft) no. 5, published 1833 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Feofil Matveyevich Tolstoy (1809 - 1881), "Was will die einsame Träne" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Th. Trendelenburg , "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 1 (Sechs Lieder von H. Heine) no. 6, published 1835 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frank Valentin Van der Stucken (1858 - 1929), "Einsame Träne", op. 17 (Acht Lieder) no. 2, published 1892, stanza 1 [ low voice and piano ], Berlin, Luckhardt, also set in Dutch (Nederlands) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Vesque von Püttlingen (1803 - 1883), "Was will die einsame Träne", published 1851, from Die Heimkehr : 88 Gedichte aus H. Heine's Reisebildern, no. 27 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Otto Wangemann (1848 - 1914), "Die Träne", op. 30 (Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 5, published 1884 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Paez [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johannes Wendel , "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 5 no. 2, published 1874 [ voice and piano ], from Kleine Blumen, kleine Blätter. Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, no. 2, Berlin, Schlesinger [sung text not yet checked]
- by Heinrich Rudolph Willmers (1821 - 1878), "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 31 (Zehn Liebeslieder), Heft 1 no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by A. Woeltge , "Was will die einsame Träne", op. 6 (Fünf Lieder) no. 5 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Zerrahn (1826 - 1910), "Die einsame Träne", published 1861, from Four songs, no. 1, also set in English [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Jos. Van de Vijver ; composed by Frank Valentin Van der Stucken.
- Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Homer Newton Bartlett.
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- Also set in English, a translation by Mary Alexander (1806 - 1859) ; composed by Fanny Hensel.
- Also set in English, a translation by Edgar Alfred Bowring (1826 - 1911) , no title, appears in The Poems of Heine Complete, first published 1861 ; composed by Carl Zerrahn.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Georges Clerc (flourished c1881) , no title, appears in Mon videpoche, in 3. Traductions et variations d'après H. Heine, no. 11, Paris, Éd. P. Ollendorff, first published 1881 ; composed by André Messager.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Michael Ashkenazi (1851 - 1914) ; composed by Nadia Boulanger.
- Also set in Hungarian (Magyar), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Josef Roch.
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- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Apollon Nikolayevich Maykov (1821 - 1897) , no title, written 1857 ; composed by Pavel Petrovich Bulakhov, Aleksandr Ivanovich Dyubyuk, Vojtěch Hlaváč, as Войтех Иванович Главач.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Fyodor Bogdanovich Miller (1818 - 1881) , first published 1848 [an adaptation] ; composed by Pavel Petrovich Bulakhov.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Aleksandr Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (1823 - 1886) ; composed by Ernest Nikolayevich Merten.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Marta Garcia Cadena) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Wat wil het eenzame traantje?", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "What does this solitary tear mean?", copyright ©
- ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , appears in Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine, first published 1881
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Que veut cette larme solitaire", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Cosa vuole questa lacrima solitaria?", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 74