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Ein Schifflein ziehet leise Den Strom hin seine Gleise. Es schweigen, die drin wandern, [Denn]1 keiner kennt den Andern. Was zieht hier aus dem Felle Der braune [Weidgeselle]2? Ein Horn, das sanft [erschallet]3; Das Ufer [widerhallet]4. Von seinem Wanderstabe Schraubt jener Stift und Habe, Und mischt mit Flötentönen Sich in des Hornes Dröhnen. Das Mädchen saß so blöde, Als fehlt' ihr gar die Rede, Jetzt stimmt sie mit Gesange Zu Horn und [Flötenklange]5. Die [Rudrer auch]6 sich regen [Mit taktgemäßen]7 Schlägen. Das Schiff hinunter flieget, Von Melodie gewieget. Hart stößt es auf am Strande, Man trennt sich in die Lande: Wann treffen wir uns, Brüder? Auf einem Schifflein wieder?
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View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Uhlands Werke, Erster Teil, Gedichte, herausgegeben von Adalbert Silbermann, Berlin, Leipzig, Wien, Stuttgart: Deutsches Verlagshaus Bong & Co., [no year], page 144.
Note: Josephine Lang composed two different unpublished settings of this text, neither of which is dated. The setting with only one manuscript has been designated "first setting" and the one with four manuscript versions has been designated "second setting." In the first setting the last line of stanza 5 is not in the score, although there vocal notes to which it could fit. For the second setting, footnotes have been provided for V4 only.
1 error in Lang (both settings): "Den"2 in some versions of Uhland: "Waldgeselle" or "Waidgeselle"; Lang, Mendelssohn, and Schumann: "Waidgeselle")
3 Lang (first setting): "erschallt", but correct when text is repeated
4 some versions of Uhland : "wiederhallet"; Lang (first setting): "wiederhallet", but "wiederhallt" when text is repeated; Lang (second setting): "wiederhallt", but "wiederhallet" when text is repeated
5 Lang (first setting): "Flöten Klange"
6 in some versions of Uhland: "Schiffer auch"; Kreutzer: "Rudrer all'"; Lang (both settings), Mendelssohn: "Ruder auch"
7 Lang (both settings): "Mit Tackt gemäß'gen"
Text Authorship:
- by Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787 - 1862), "Das Schifflein", appears in Balladen und Romanzen [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 Frederick Brandeis (1835 - 1899), "Das Schifflein", op. 43 no. 3, published 1877 [ voice and piano ], from Four Songs, no. 3, New York: Martens Brothers, also set in English [sung text not yet checked]
- by Felix (August Bernhard) Draeseke (1835 - 1913), "Das Schifflein", op. 20 no. 1, published 1882 [ high voice and piano ], from Landschaftsbilder. Sechs Gesänge, no. 1, Dresden, Hoffarth [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gottfried Emil Fischer (1791 - 1841), "Das Schifflein", published 1842 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Friedrich Theodor Fröhlich (1803 - 1836), "Das Schifflein", op. 13 (Lieder im Volkston für vier Männerstimmen) no. 11 [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ], Berlin: Bethge [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Gund (1865 - 1927), "Das Schifflein", op. 39 (Sechs Lieder) no. 3 (1914) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Christian Frederik Emil Horneman (1840 - 1906), "Das Schifflein", published 1877 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Gedichte für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 4, Berlin, Fürstner [sung text not yet checked]
- by Conradin Kreutzer (1780 - 1849), "Das Schifflein", op. 60, Heft 2 (2. Folge der Frühlings- und Wanderlieder) no. 11, KWV 9107 no. 11 [ voice and piano ], from 12 Lieder und Romanzen von L. Uhland, für 1 und 2 Singstimmen mit Pianoforte, no. 11, Leipzig, Kistner [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), no title [ voice and piano ], unpublished (first setting) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Das Schifflein" [ voice and piano ], unpublished (second setting) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Das Schifflein", 1835 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), "Das Schifflein", op. posth. 99 (Sechs Gesänge für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4 (1841) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Hans Michael Schletterer (1824 - 1893), "Das Schifflein ", op. 39 (6 Chorgesänge für S., A., T. und B. ) no. 6, published 1860 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], Magdeburg, Heinrichshofen [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Das Schifflein", op. posth. 146 (Romanzen und Balladen für Chor (Heft 4)) no. 5 (1849), published 1860, Elberfeld, Arnold [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Philipp) Friedrich Silcher (1789 - 1860), "Das Schifflein" [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Frederick Brandeis.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "La barqueta", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Het scheepje", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The little ship", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le petit bateau", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Gianni Franceschi) , "La barchetta", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 118
A little ship quietly travels Its path along the current. Those travelling on it are silent For they do not know each other. What is it that from beneath his pelts The brown forester1 pulls out? It is a horn that softly sounds: The shore echoes [its sounding]. From his walking stick Another unscrews prong and possessions, And mixes the tones of a flute Into the droning of the horn. The maiden who had sat so bashfully, As if she were incapable of speech, Now lifts her voice in song To the sounds of the horn and the flute. The rowers2, too, bestir themselves With rhythmic strokes. The ship beneath them flies Rocked by melody. The shore is reached with a hard bump, The passengers [prepare to] go their separate ways into the land: When, brethren, shall we all be together again Upon the same little ship?
1 Lang, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and in some versions of Uhland: "fieldsman"
2 in some versions of Uhland: "shipmen"; Lang (both settings), Mendelssohn: "oars"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2013 by Sharon Krebs, (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 Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787 - 1862), "Das Schifflein", appears in Balladen und Romanzen
This text was added to the website: 2013-07-03
Line count: 24
Word count: 150