LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,139)
  • Text Authors (19,558)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

×

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Robert Eduard Prutz (1816 - 1872)
Translation © by Jacques Jobard

Um Mitternacht in ernster Stunde
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG FRE
[Um]1 Mitternacht in ernster Stunde,
Tönt oft ein wundersamer Klang:
'S ist wie aus liebem Muttermunde
Ein freundlich tröstender Gesang.
 
In süßen, unbelauschten Thränen
Löst er des Herzens bange Pein,
Und alles unmuthvolle Sehnen
Und allen Kummer wiegt er ein.
 
Als käm' der Mai des Lebens wieder,
Regt sich's im Herzen wunderbar:
Da quillen Töne, keimen Lieder,
Da wird die Seele jung und klar.
 
So tönt das stille Läuten
Doch ich versteh' die Weise nie,
Und nur mitunter möcht' ich's deuten
Als wär's der Kindheit Melodie.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Nolopp: "Zur"; further changes may exist not shown above.

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Eduard Prutz (1816 - 1872), "Um Mitternacht" [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 Francesco Berger (1834 - 1933), "Um Mitternacht", op. 18 (Drei Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1859 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Joseph) Anton Bruckner (1824 - 1896), "Um Mitternacht" [ four-part men's chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Gustav Flügel (1812 - 1900), "Um Mitternacht im ernster Stunde", op. 8 no. 7, published << 1869 [ voice and piano ], from Jugendlieder, no. 7, Magdeburg: Heinrichshofen'sche Buch- und Musikalien Handlung [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Ferdinand Gumbert (1818 - 1896), "Um Mitternacht", op. 79 (5 Lieder für Sopran (oder Tenor) mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1857 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Offenbach, André [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Friedrich Ernst Arnold Werner Nolopp (1835 - 1903), "Zur Mitternacht", op. 32, published 1886 [ four-part men's chorus ], Magdeburg, Heinrichshofen Vlg. [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Carl Theodor Emanuel, Freiherr von Perfall (1824 - 1907), "Um Mitternacht", op. 9 (Sechs Lieder für Sopran, Alt, Tenor und Bass) no. 3, published 1860 [ SATB chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Heinrich Triest (1808 - 1885), "Um Mitternacht", op. 30 (Sechs Gesänge für drei Frauenstimmen Solo oder Chor mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1874 [ vocal trio for female voices (or three-part women's chorus) with piano ], Berlin, E. Challier [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English (David Arkell) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Jacques Jobard) , "À minuit", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani

This text was added to the website: 2008-07-17
Line count: 16
Word count: 87

À minuit
Language: French (Français)  after the German (Deutsch) 
À minuit, en cette heure grave, 
S'élève souvent un son merveilleux, 
Comme si sortait de la bouche d'une mère 
Un chant aimable et consolant. 

Dans des larmes douces et secrètes 
Il dissout la souffrance et l'inquiétude du cœur, 
Et endort en les berçant toute nostalgie morose 
Et tout chagrin. 

Comme si le printemps de la vie revenait, 
Le cœur s'agite merveilleusement. 
Des notes jaillissent, des chants germent, 
L'âme redevient jeune et limpide. 

C'est ce que m'évoque cette musique apaisante, 
Mais je n'en comprends pas l'essence. 
Et ce n'est que parfois que je puis l'interpréter 
Comme étant la mélodie de l'enfance.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2013 by Jacques Jobard, (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 Robert Eduard Prutz (1816 - 1872), "Um Mitternacht"
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2013-09-14
Line count: 16
Word count: 100

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris