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Fremde Geige, gehst du mir nach? In wieviel Städten schon sprach deine einsame Nacht zu meiner? Spielen dich hunderte? Spielt dich einer? Giebt es in allen großen Städten solche, die sich ohne dich schon in den den Flüssen verloren hätten? Und warum trifft es immer mich? Warum bin ich immer der Nachbar derer, die ich bange zwingen zu singen und zu sagen: Das Leben ist schwerer als die Schwere von allen Dingen.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Die Gedichte, Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1997, pages 338-339.
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Der Nachbar", written 1902/3, appears in Das Buch der Bilder [author's text checked 2 times 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 Herbert Blendinger (b. 1936), "Du, Nachbar Gott", op. 53 no. 3 (1990), first performed 1991 [ baritone and piano ], from Vom mönchischen Leben, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gerd Büntzly (b. 1949), "Der Nachbar" [ voice, piano ], from Songs, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bernard Foccroulle (b. 1953), "Der Nachbar", 2010 [ soprano and orchestra ], from Am Rande der Nacht II, no. 3, Editions Pierre Neuray [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bernard Foccroulle (b. 1953), "Der Nachbar", 2009 [ soprano and piano trio ], from Wer du auch seist, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bernard Foccroulle (b. 1953), "Der Nachbar", 2007 [ soprano, chorus, orchestra ], from Am Rande der Nacht I, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by André Froelicher (b. 1959), "Der Nachbar", 1982 [ baritone and violin ], Manuscript [sung text not yet checked]
- by Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "Der Nachbar", copyright © 2012 [ soprano and violin ], from The Violin Sings in a Common Language, no. 1, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Robert Haas (1886 - 1960), "Der Nachbar" [ voice, violin and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gregor Konrad Heuer (1915 - 1989), "Der Nachbar", 1954, published 1954 [ voice and piano ], Ikuro Edition Roland Heuer [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bruce Mather (b. 1939), "Der Nachbar", 1960 [ tenor and guitar ], from Cycle Rilke, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Siegfried Matthus (1934 - 2021), "Fremde Geige, gehst du mir nach...", published 1995 [ voice and orchestra ], from Wiesen von Liebe, Leben und Tod, no. 9, Breitkopf & Härtl [sung text not yet checked]
- by Priscilla McLean (b. 1942), "Der Nachbar", 1965, first performed 1966 [ voice and violin ], from Rainer Maria Rilke Poems, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael J. Schumacher , "Der Nachbar", 1982? [ bass and piano ], from Drei Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Beth Wiemann (b. 1959), "Der Nachbar", 2019, published 2020 [ baritone and piano ], from Six songs on Rilke, no. 3, New York, NY : American Composers Alliance, Inc. [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Maurice Betz (1898 - 1946) ; composed by Raymond Loucheur.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Stéphane Goldet) (Pierre de Rosamel) , "Le voisin", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2013-04-30
Line count: 12
Word count: 72
Etrange violon, est-ce que tu viens avec moi ? Dans combien de villes au loin ta nuit solitaire a-t-elle déjà parlé à la mienne ? Y en a-t-il des centaines à te jouer ? Ou rien qu'un seul ? Y a-t-il dans toutes les grandes villes de ces êtres qui, sans toi, seraient déjà allés se jeter dans les fleuves ? Et en quoi cela me concerne-t-il ? Pourquoi est-ce que je me sens toujours proche de ceux qui te forcent à chanter leur angoisse et à dire : la vie pèse plus lourd que le lourd fardeau de tout ce qui pèse ?
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2013 by Stéphane Goldet and Pierre de Rosamel, (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), "Der Nachbar", written 1902/3, appears in Das Buch der Bilder
This text was added to the website: 2013-04-30
Line count: 12
Word count: 96