{"id":1030,"date":"2013-07-08T08:00:47","date_gmt":"2013-07-08T06:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.henle.de\/blog\/en\/?p=1030"},"modified":"2015-06-18T07:59:51","modified_gmt":"2015-06-18T05:59:51","slug":"%e2%80%9cadelaide%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-a-song-goes-round-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/2013\/07\/08\/%e2%80%9cadelaide%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-a-song-goes-round-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAdelaide\u201d \u2013 a song goes round the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

The German art song does indeed famously enjoy great popularity, and not only where the German language is spoken. And so, time and again, where there are lied editions with German texts, the question is whether to include a translation of the poem for the international market, or even when possible to underlay the song text in other languages. That such considerations did not come up only with the \u201cglobal trading\u201d of our time, but that publishers of 200 years ago were already worrying about it, can be seen in the example of Ludwig van Beethoven\u2019s Adelaide<\/em>. <\/em><\/p>\n

Adelaide<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Einsam wandelt dein Freund im Fr\u00fchlingsgarten,
\n<\/em>Mild vom lieblichen Zauberlicht umflossen,
\n<\/em>Das durch wankende Bl\u00fctenzweige zittert,
\n<\/em>Adelaide!<\/em><\/p>\n

In der spiegelnden Flut, im Schnee der Alpen,
\n<\/em>In des sinkenden Tages Goldgew\u00f6lken,
\n<\/em>Im Gefilde der Sterne stralt dein Bildnis,
\n<\/em>Adelaide!<\/em><\/p>\n

Abendl\u00fcftchen im zarten Laube fl\u00fcstern,
\n<\/em>Silbergl\u00f6ckchen des Mais im Grase s\u00e4useln,
\n<\/em>Wellen rauschen, und Nachtigallen fl\u00f6ten:
\n<\/em>Adelaide.<\/em><\/p>\n

Einst, o Wunder! entbl\u00fcht, auf meinem Grabe,
\n<\/em>Eine Blume der Asche meines Herzens;
\n<\/em>Deutlich schimmert auf jedem Purpurbl\u00e4ttchen:
\n<\/em>Adelaide.<\/em><\/p>\n

(Hamburger Musen Almanach f\u00fcr 1790<\/em>,
\nhrsg. v. Johann Heinrich Voss, S. 65 f.)<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Adelaide<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Your friend is wandering lonely in the spring garden,
\n<\/em>Softly surrounded by sweet magical light,
\n<\/em>That vibrates through swaying blossoming branches,
\n<\/em>Adelaide!<\/em><\/p>\n

In reflective waters, in the snowy Alps,
\n<\/em>In the golden cloud banks of the sinking day,
\n<\/em>In the starry realms your likeness radiates,
\n<\/em>Adelaide!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>Ev\u2019ning breezes whisper in gentle arbours,
\n<\/em>Silver lilies-of-the-valley tinkle in the grass,
\n<\/em>Billows booming and nightingales piping,
\n<\/em>Adelaide!<\/em><\/p>\n

Once, o marvel! A flower blooms on my grave,
\n<\/em>A flower out of the ashes of my heart,
\n<\/em>Clearly shimmering on each crimson petal:
\n<\/em>Adelaide!<\/em><\/p>\n

(Translation: M. L.\u00a0McCorkle) <\/em><\/p>\n

Beethoven had already had his Adelaide<\/em> published in 1797 by Artaria in Vienna with a dedication to the author of the text, Friedrich von Matthisson (1761\u20131831). Why then it took him three years to send the very popular poet a copy of the edition, he himself could not properly explain in his covering letter to Matthisson. But in August 1800 he begged the \u201cmost admirable one\u201d so much the more warmly to accept his presentation now \u201cas a token of […] my gratitude and high regard for the blissful enjoyment your poetry always absolutely gives me and will yet give me\u201d. Matthisson in turn seems pleased at having encountered the setting \u2013 even though presumably he hardly recognised his Adelaide<\/em> again in the Artaria edition <\/a>bristling with orthographic errors.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Artaria edition, Beethoven-Haus Bonn<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Nonetheless, in a new edition of his poems published in 1811 he commented favourably on Adelaide<\/em>: \u201cSeveral composers have breathed life through music into the small lyrical fantasy; but none of them, I am firmly convinced, has so eclipsed the text by the melody as the brilliant Ludwig van Beethoven in Vienna.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beethoven himself seems, however, to have been less satisfied \u2013 also in musical respects \u2013 with the very flawed first print. That at any rate is suggested by the two editions of Adelaide<\/em> published in 1803\/04 by Hoffmeister & K\u00fchnel in Vienna <\/a>and by Simrock in Bonn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hoffmeister & K\u00fchnel edition, Beethoven-Haus Bonn<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Simrock edition, Beethoven-Haus Bonn<\/p><\/div>\n

As Helga L\u00fchning explains in the edition of the lied in the Beethoven Complete Edition<\/a>, both editions show minor musical discrepancies from the original edition that could really have gone back only to the composer. So she believes that very likely these editions came about in consultation with Beethoven and are consequently authorised. Even so, the two editions of 1803\/04 also differ from the Artaria original edition in still another aspect: they are bilingual. The Vienna edition also includes an Italian translation, the Bonn, a French one. This was owing to local circumstances: In Vienna, the taste in matters of vocal music dictated by the Hapsburg court was Italian \u2013 so here with its translation Hoffmeister & K\u00fchnel could nail down a competitive advantage over the \u201cmonolingual\u201d Artaria edition. Moreover, at the international level Italian was the language of music \u2013 so it was no wonder that the first London edition of Adelaide<\/em> (Monzani & Co., 1811) immediately adopted this Italian text.<\/p>\n

Adelaida<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nel giardino solingo v\u00e0\u2019l tuo bene
\n<\/em>dolcemente di rosea luce sparso
\n<\/em>che fra tremole frondi si diffonde
\n<\/em>Adelaida!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>Nel cristallo del rio, s\u00f9 nell\u2019Alpi,
\n<\/em>nell\u2019aurate del d\u00ec cadente nubi
\n<\/em>nelle stelle risplende il tuo sembiante
\n<\/em>Adelaida!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>Nelle tenere frondi garron l\u2019aure,
\n<\/em>e susurran del Maggio le violette,
\n<\/em>l\u2019onde fremono e canta l\u2019usignuolo
\n<\/em>Adelaida!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>Prodigioso rinasce sulla tomba
\n<\/em>dalle ceneri del mio cor un fiore
\n<\/em>\u2019ve s\u00f9 foglie porporee traluce
\n<\/em>Adelaida!<\/em><\/p>\n

In the Rhineland, on the other hand, the occupation by Napoleon\u2019s troops at that time brought with it an orientation toward France \u2013 which is why Simrock translated not only the title of the edition into French, but also the text of Adelaide<\/em>. It offered, to be sure, only a limited aid to comprehension, because unlike the Italian translation the French treats the model very freely, makes use of different nature images and changes the perspective as well: From the sentimental, but distanced observation there of \u201cYour friend is wandering lonely in the spring garden\u201d (Italian: \u201cNel giardino solingo v\u00e0\u2019l tuo bene\u201d), it here becomes, \u201cDans ces hameaux c\u2019est l\u2019amour qui me guide\u201d \u2013 where the singer no longer sings about Adelaide\u2019s friend, but impersonates him instead.<\/p>\n

This may have given an entirely new impetus to performance, but the text hardly does justice to the controlled emphasis of Matthisson\u2019s poem. Indeed, the musically elevated closing apotheosis through the change to Allegro molto<\/em>, \u201cOnce, o marvel! A flower blooms on my grave \/ A flower out of the ashes of my heart\u201d comes across in French, ushered in by the vow of faithfulness, \u201cNon, jamais! on ne me verra changer\u201d, as very nearly a caricature.<\/p>\n

Adelaide<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dans ces hameaux c\u2019est l\u2019amour qui me guide;
\n<\/em>J\u2019y viens jouir des beaux jours du printems;
\n<\/em>J\u2019y viens amis! c\u00e9l\u00e9brer par mes chants,
\n<\/em>Adelaide!<\/em><\/p>\n

Je te vois en tous lieux objet de mes feux!
\n<\/em>Au haut des cieux, sur la plaine liquide;
\n<\/em>Je te vois sur nos coteaux; sur ces ormeaux je lis le nom
\n<\/em>D\u2019Adelaide!<\/em><\/p>\n

Le rossignol, instruit \u00e0 le chanter
\n<\/em>Le passereau, la fauvette timide,
\n<\/em>Dans leurs concerts, entendez les r\u00e9p\u00e9ter,
\n<\/em>Adelaide!<\/em><\/p>\n

Non, jamais! on ne me verra changer,
\n<\/em>Qui pourrait on lui pr\u00e9f\u00e9rer? peut on \u00eatre perfide?
\n<\/em>Peut on changer? quand on a jur\u00e9 d\u2019aimer,
\n<\/em>Adelaide!<\/em><\/p>\n

If for our new separate edition of Beethoven\u2019s Adelaide<\/em> (HN 1043)<\/a>, we do in fact consult the two editions from Hoffmeister & K\u00fchnel and Simrock in addition to the original edition from Artaria, but still underlay only the German text, then this is certainly not a matter of taste, but strictly philological: For one thing, in Beethoven\u2019s time the underlay with additional translations was not the composer\u2019s affair, but the publisher\u2019s \u2013 and we have no evidence that here it should be treated differently. For the other, translations call for small changes to the melody in which a melisma is sometimes split up (for example, in the case of\u00a0 \u201cje lis le nom\u201d instead of \u201cdein Bildnis\u201d), sometimes an upbeat figure becomes a full bar (e.g., with \u201cs\u00f9 nell\u2019Alpi\u201d for \u201cim Schnee der Alpen\u201d).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hoffmeister & K\u00fchnel edition, Beethoven-Haus Bonn<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Simrock edition, Beethoven-Haus Bonn<\/p><\/div>\n

Such interventions affect the musical substance of Beethoven\u2019s composition and so ought not be found at all in the music text of an Urtext edition. In Helga L\u00fchning\u2019s detailed foreword to this edition, however, they are of course documented \u2013 not least as early evidence of publishing efforts to expand the circulation of Adelaide<\/em>, appearing already in Beethoven\u2019s lifetime in over twenty different editions and belonging to date around the globe to his most popular lieder (in the German language).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The German art song does indeed famously enjoy great popularity, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436,276,3,327],"tags":[126,7,128,127],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}