Katharina Kammerloher
LIEDTEXTE ENGLISCH
1 Praise of Lofty Judgement
Once in a deep valley
the cuckoo and the nightingale
struck a wager:
whoever sang the masterpiece,
whether won by art or won by luck,
thanks would he take away.
The cuckoo spoke: “If you agree,
I have chosen the judge.”
And he at once named the ass.
“For since he has two large ears,
he can hear all the better!
And recognize what is right!”
Soon they flew before the judge.
When he was told the matter,
he decreed that they should sing.
The nightingale sang out sweetly!
The ass spoke: “You muddle me up!
Heehaw! Heehaw!
I can’t get it into my head!”
There upon the cuckoo began quickly
his song in thirds and fourths and fifths.
It pleased the ass, he spoke but: “Wait
I will pronounce thy judgement,
yes, pronounce.
You have sung well, nightingale!
But, cuckoo, you sing a good chorale!
And hold the beat precisely!
I speak from my higher understanding!
And even if it cost a whole country,
I thus pronounce you the winner!”
Cuckoo, cuckoo! Heehaw!
2 St. Anthony of Padua’s Sermon to the Fish
At sermon time Anthony
finds the church empty!
He goes to the rivers
and preaches to the fish
They flap with their tails!
They gleam in the sunshine, they gleam.
The carp with roe
have all congregated;
their jaws gaping,
intent on listening.
Never did a sermon
so please the fish!
Sharp-snouted pike,
that fence continually,
swam up in a hurry
to hear the holy man!
Even those odd creatures
that continually fast:
I mean the codfish,
appear for the sermon!
Never did a sermon
so please the codfish!
Good eels and sturgeon
that people of quality relish,
even they condescend
to attend the sermon.
Crabs, too, and turtles,
usually slowboats,
climb hurriedly from the depths
to hear this voice
Never did a sermon
so please the crabs!
Fish big and fish small!
Of quality and common!
They raise their heads
like rational creatures!
At God’s command
they listen to the sermon.
The sermon finished,
each one turns away!
The pike remain thieves,
the eels great lovers,
the sermon was pleasing,
they all stay the same!
The crabs go backwards,
the codfish stay fat,
the carp gorge a lot,
the sermon ’s forgotten!
The sermon was pleasing,
they all stay the same!
3 Replacement
Kukuk has fallen to death,
fallen to death
on a green meadow!
Meadow! Meadow!
Kukuk is dead!
Kukuk is dead!
has fallen to his death!
Who should then amuse us the summer long
to pass the time and while?
Kukuk! Kukuk!
Who should then amuse us the summer long
to pass the time and while?
Well! That's what Miss Nightingale should do!
She sits on a green branch!
The tiny, fine nightingale,
the dear, sweet nightingale!
She sings and springs, is always gay,
When other birds are quiet!
We are waiting for Miss Nightingale,
she dwells in the green hedge,
and when the kukuk is over,
then she starts beating!
4 To make bad children good
A gentleman came to the castle
on a beautiful horse,
kukukuk, kukukuk!
As the woman peeks out of the window
and says: “The husband is not at home,
and no one, and no one,
and no one home but my children;
and the maid, and the maid
is at the mangle!”
The gentleman on his horse
says to the woman in the castle:
Kukukuk, kukukuk!
“Are they good children, are they bad children?
Oh, dear woman, say quickly,”
kukukuk, kukukuk!
“In my pocket for obedient children
I have some gifts,”
kukukuk, kukukuk!
The woman says: “very bad children!
They don't listen to mother so soon,
are naughty, are naughty!”
The woman says “are naughty children!
They don‘t obey, they don‘t obey
their mother instantly!"
The gentleman says: “So I’ll ride home,
I don’t need children like that!”
Kukukuk, kukukuk!
And rides on his horse
far, far away from the castle!
Kukukuk, kukukuk!
5 Self-perception
I don't know how I am!
I am not ill and not healthy,
I am injured and have no wound,
I don't know how I am!
I would like to eat but don't like the taste of food,
I have money but it doesn’t mean anything to me,
I have money but it doesn't mean anything to me,
I don't know how I am!
I don't even have any snuff,
and have not a penny in my pocket,
no money in the pocket,
I don't even have any snuff
and have not a penny in my pocket,
not a penny in my pocket!
I don't know how I am, how I am!
I would also like to get married,
but can't bear children's screaming,
can't bear children's screaming!
I don't know how I am!'
I just asked the doctor today,
he told me straight to my face:
“I well know what is wrong with you, what is wrong with you:
You are certainly a fool!”
““Now I know how I am,
now I know how I am;””
“You are certainly a fool!”
““Now I know how I am,
now I know how I am!”“
6 Labour Lost
She:
Laddie, we –
Laddie, we want to go ou
Shall we?
Look at our lambs?
Come, dear laddie!
Come, I beg you!
He:
Silly lassie
I won’t go with you at all!
She:
You want perhaps?
You want perhaps a little bit to nibble?
Fetch yourself something out of my bag!
Fetch it, dear laddie!
Fetch it, I beg you!
He:
Silly lassie,
I’ll nibble nothing of yours at all!
She:
You mean, I should –
You mean, I should give you my heart!?
Always will you want to think on me!?
Always!?
Take it! Dear laddie!
Take it, I beg you!
He:
Silly lassie,
I don’t care for it at all.
Nothing!
7 Who Thought up this Little Song?!
Up there on the mountain,
in the high house!
In the house!
There peers out a fine, dear maiden!
There is not her home!
She is the innkeeper’s daughter!
She lives on the green heath!
My heart has a wound!
Come, sweetheart, make it well!
Your dark brown little eyes,
they have wounded me!
Your rosy mouth
makes hearts well.
It makes young people rational,
brings the dead back to life,
makes the ill healthy,
yes, healthy.
Who then thought up this pretty, pretty little song?
Three geese have brought it over the water!
Two grey and one white!
And whoever cannot sing this little song,
to him they will whistle it!
Yes –
8 Over! Over!
“Today we march! Hooray, hooray, in the green month of May!
Tomorrow we'll march out through the high gate,
out through the high gate! Out!"
““Are you leaving yet?
Good heavens! My dearest!
Will you never come home again?
Good heavens! My dearest!""
“Today we march, hooray, hooray, in the green month of May!
Oh, you black-brown little girl,
our love is not yet over,
Love is not yet over, over!
Drink a glass of wine
to your health and mine!
Do you see that feather on the hat?
Now it's time to march!
Take the handkerchief out of your bag,
wipe away your tears!
Today we march, hooray, hooray,
in the green month of May,
tomorrow we will march, hooray,
in the green month of May!”
““I want to go to the monastery,
because my darling goes away!
Where are you going to, my darling?
Are you leaving, leaving already today?
And will you never come back?
Oh! How sad it will be
in this little town here!
So soon you will forget me!
Poor girl me!””
“Tomorrow we march, hooray, hooray,
in the green month of May!
Console yourself, my dear darling,
lots of flowers bloom in May!
Love is not yet over! Over!
Over! Over! Over!"
9 Parting and shunning
Three riders rode out through the gate!
Goodbye! Goodbye!
Sweet darling, she was looking out of the window!
Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!
And as there is no other way but parting,
so give me your little golden ring!
Goodbye! Goodbye!
Yes, parting and shunning does hurt, does hurt!
Yes, parting and shunning does hurt, does hurt!
Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!
The child departs already in the cradle!
Goodbye! Goodbye!
When will I get my darling!
Goodbye! Goodbye!
And if it isn't tomorrow, oh, so it be today!
It would give us both great joy!
Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye! ...
Yes, parting and shunning does hurt, does hurt!
Yes, parting and shunning does hurt, does hurt!
Goodbye!
10 Solace in Misfortune
Hussar:
Now then! The time has come!
My horse, it must be saddled!
I’ve made up my mind,
I must ride away!
Off you go!
I have my due!
I love you only in folly!
Without you I can well live,
yes, live!
Without you I can well exist!
So I’ll sit on my horse
and drink a glass of cool wine,
and swear by my little beard,
to be true to you forever!
Maiden:
You think, you are the handsomest
in the whole wide world,
and also the most pleasant!
But you are far, far off the mark!
In my father’s garden
there’s a flower growing:
I’ll keep waiting
till it is bigger.
And off you go!
I have my due!
I love you only in folly!
Without you I can well live!
Without you I can well exist!
Both:
You think I’m going to take you!
That I will not think of for a long time!
I must be ashamed of you,
when I am in public!
11 Rhine Legend
Now I mow by the Neckar,
now I mow by the Rhine;
now I have a sweetheart,
now I’m alone!
What good is mowing
if the sickle doesn’t cut;
what good is a sweetheart,
if he/she doesn’t stay with me!
So should I then mow
by the Neckar, by the Rhine;
then I will throw
my little gold ring in!
It will float in the Neckar
and float in the Rhine,
it shall swim right down
into the deep sea!
And when it swims, the little ring,
then a fish will eat it!
The fish will land
on the king’s table!
The king would ask,
whose ring can it be?
Then my sweetheart would say:
“The ring belongs to me!”
My sweetheart would spring
up hill and down hill,
would bring back to me
the fine little gold ring!
You can mow by the Neckar,
you can mow by the Rhine!
You can always toss in
your little ring to me!
12 The Sentinel’s Nightsong
I cannot and will not be cheerful!
When everyone is asleep!
Then I must keep watch!
Yes, keep watch!
Must be sorrowful!
Ah, lad, you mustn’t be sad!
I’ll wait for you
in the rose-garden!
In the green clover!
To the green clover, there I do not come!
To the weapons garden!
Full of halberds!
I am posted!
If you are on the battlefield, may God help you!
On God’s blessing
is everything dependent!
Whoever believes it!
He who believes it is far away!
He’s a king!
He’s an emperor!
He wages war!
Halt! Who’s there?
Patrol!
Stand back!
Who sang here? Who sang just now?
A solitary field sentinel
sang it at midnight!
Midnight!
Field sentinel!
13 Not see again!
And now goodbye, my most beloved darling!
Now I must part from you, from you,
until next summer;
then I’ll come back to you!
Goodbye! Goodbye, my dearest darling,
my most beloved darling!
And when the young man came home,
his first words were about his beloved one:
“Where is my dearest love,
whom I left?”
“She is buried in the churchyard,
today is the third day!
The mourning and crying
caused her to die!”
Farewell, farewell, my dearest darling,
my most beloved darling!
Now I want to go to the churchyard,
I want to look for my loved one's grave,
you want to call her incessantly, yes, call her,
until she gives me an answer!
Oh, you, my dearest darling,
open your deep grave!
You don't hear a bell tolling,
you don't hear a bird twitching,
you don't see the sun or the moon!
Farewell, farewell, my dearest darling,
my most beloved darling!
Farewell!
14 In Straßburg, at the redoute
In Straßburg, at the redoute,
there my pain began!
I could hear the alphorn playing over there,
I had to swim across to my fatherland,
but that wouldn't succeed, that wouldn't succeed!
An hour in the night
they brought me here;
they took me right to the captain’s house!
Oh God! They fished me out in the river!
This is my end,
this is my end!
Early in the morning at ten
they’ll place me in front of the regiment!
There I should ask for pardon, for pardon!
and yet I‘ll get punished,
and yet I‘ll get punished!
I know better,
I know better!
You, my brothers nevertheless, my brothers nevertheless,
today you see me for the last time;
today you see me for the last time!
It’s all the shepherd boy’s fault!
The alphorn did it to me,
that did it to me!
That I accuse,
that I accuse!
15 Song of the Persecuted in the Tower
The prisoner, vehemently determined
Thoughts are free,
who can guess them;
they rush past
like nocturnal shadows,
no man can know them,
no hunter can shoot them;
it remains thus:
thoughts are free!
The maiden, disheartenedly cajoling
Summer is a time for merriment,
on high, wild heaths.
There one finds a green place,
my heartily loving little sweetheart,
from you I do not wish to part!
The Prisoner
And if they lock me up
in a dark dungeon,
all this is but
effort in vain;
for my thoughts
tear the bars apart
and the walls in twain,
thoughts are free!
The Maiden
Summer is a time for merriment,
on high, wild mountains.
There one is always quite alone,
on high, wild mountains.
There one hears no children yelling.
There the air invites one to himself,
The air invites one to himself.
The Prisoner
So may it be the way it is!
And if it happens,
may it all happen in the silence,
only everything in the silence!
My wish and desire
can be restrained by no one!
It remains thus,
thoughts are free!
The Maiden
My sweetheart, you sing as cheerfully here
as a little bird in the grass;
I stand so sadly at the prison door,
if I only were dead, if I only were with you,
alas, must I then always complain?
The Prisoner
And since you complain so,
I’ll renounce love,
and if I dare,
then nothing can worry me!
Then in my heart I can always
laugh and be jovial;
it remains thus:
Thoughts are free!
16 Where the Fair Trumpets Sound
Who then is outside and who is knocking,
that can so softly awaken me?
It is your dearest darling,
get up and let me come to you!
Why should I go on standing here?
I see the red of morn arise,
.the red of morn, two bright stars.
I long to be with my sweetheart!
With my dearest darling!
The maiden got up and let him in,
she bade him welcome, too.
Welcome, my fine lad!
You have been standing so long!
She offered him too her snow-white hand.
From far away the nightingale sang,
then began she too, to weep!
Ah, do not weep, beloved mine!
After a year you will be my own.
My own you shall certainly become,
as is no other on earth!
Oh love on the green earth.
I’m off to war, on the green heath;
the green heath is so far away!
Where there the fair trumpets sound,
there is my home,
my house of green grass!
17 The Drummer Boy
Ballad
I, poor drummer boy!
They are leading me out of the dungeon!
If I’d remained a drummer,
I would not lie imprisoned!
Oh, gallows, you tall house,
you look so frightening!
I don’t look at you any more!
Because I know that’s where I belong!
When soldiers march past,
that are not billeted with me,
when they ask who I was:
Drummer of the first company!
Good night, you marble rocks!
You mountains and hills!
Good night, you officers,
corporals and musketeers!
Good night!
You officers, corporals and grenadiers!
I cry out with a clear voice:
I take leave of you!
Good night!
18 The Earthly Life
“Mother, oh mother, I’m hungry!
Give me some bread or I shall die!”
“Just wait! Just wait, my dear child!
Tomorrow we shall hurry to harvest!”
And when the grain was harvested,
the child still cried out:
“Mother, oh mother, I’m hungry!
Give me some bread or I shall die!”
“Just wait! Just wait, my dear child!
Tomorrow we shall hurry and go threshing!”
And when the grain was threshed,
the child still cried out:
“Mother, oh mother, I’m hungry!
Give me some bread or I shall die!”
“Just wait! Just wait, my dear child!
Tomorrow we shall hurry and bake!”
And when the bread was baked,
the child lay on the funeral bier!
19 Reveille
In the morning between three and four,
we soldiers must march
up and down the alley,
trallali, trallaley, trallalera,
my sweetheart looks down!
Oh, brother, now I’ve been shot,
the bullet has struck me hard,
carry me to my billet,
trallali, trallaley, trallalera,
it isn’t far from here!
Oh, brother, I can’t carry you,
the enemy has beaten us,
may the dear God help you!
Trallali, trallaley,
trallali, trallaley, trallalera,
I must, I must march on until death!
Oh, brothers, oh, brothers,
you go on past me
as if I were done with,
as if I were already done with!
Trallali, trallaley,
trallali, trallaley, trallalera,
you’re treading too near to me!
Trallali, trallaley, trallali, trallaley.
I must nevertheless beat my drum,
trallali, trallaley, trallali, trallaley,
otherwise I will lose myself.
My brothers, thickly covering the ground,
lie as if mown down.
Up and down he beats the drum,
he wakes his silent brothers,
trallali, trallaley, trallali, trallaley,
they battle and they strike their enemy,
trallali, trallaley, trallalerallala,
a terror smites the enemy!
Up and down he beats the drum,
there they are again before their billets,
trallali, trallaley, trallali, trallaley.
Clearly out into the alley!
They draw before sweetheart’s house,
trallali, trallaley,
trallali, trallaley, trallalera,
they draw before sweetheart’s house,
trallali.
In the morning there stand the skeletons
in rank and file, they stand like tombstones,
in rank, in rank and file.
The drum stands in front,
so that it can see him,
trallali, trallaley,
trallali, trallaley, trallalera,
so that it can see him!
20 Primeval Light
O little red rose!
Man lies in greatest need!
Man lies in greatest pain!
Even more would I rather be in heaven!
There I came upon a broad path;
there came an angel and wanted to turn me away.
Ah no, I would not be turned away!
I am from God and want to return to God!
The loving God will give me a little of the light,
will illuminate me to the eternal blessed life!
© Translation 1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Renate Stark-Voit / Thomas Hampson
© Translation 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, 14
Katharina Kammerloher / Peter Schulze-Kraft