Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten

Ich weiß nicht, was [soll es]1 bedeuten
Daß ich so traurig bin;
Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten
Das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.

Die Luft ist kühl und es dunkelt,
Und ruhig fließt der Rhein;
Der Gipfel des Berges funkelt
Im Abendsonnenschein.

Die schönste Jungfrau sitzet
Dort oben wunderbar,
Ihr goldnes Geschmeide blitzet
Sie kämmt ihr goldenes Haar.

Sie kämmt es mit [goldenem]2 Kamme
Und singt ein Lied dabei;
Das hat eine wundersame
Gewaltige Melodei.

Den Schiffer im kleinen Schiffe
ergreift es mit wildem Weh,
Er schaut nicht die Felsenriffe,
Er schaut nur hinauf in die Höh.

Ich glaube, die Wellen verschlingen
Am Ende Schiffer und Kahn;
Und das hat mit ihrem Singen
Die Lorelei getan.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Liszt: "soll's"
² Liszt: "gold'nem"

Authorship

by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) , no title, from Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 2

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Konstantin Julius Becker (1811-1859) , "Lorelei", op. 19.
by Jakob Blied (1844-1884) , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", from Lieder, no. 1
by Ingeborg (Starck) Bronsart von Schellendorf (1840-1913) , "Die Loreley", published 1865.
by Christian Bruhn (1934-) , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten" [voice and orchestra], from Heine-Lieder, no. 10.
by Carl Debrois van Bruyck (1828-1902) , "Die Loreley", op. 15 (Drei Gesänge) no. 2. [mezzo-soprano and piano]
by Jeannette Antonie Bürde (1799-?) , "Die Loreley", op. 7 (Drei Gesänge) no. 3, published c1850. [soprano or tenor and piano]
by G. Burwig , "Loreley" [voice, speaker, and piano], note: indicates "parodistisch-musikalisch glossirt"
by John Driscoll (1977-) , "Die Lorelei"
by Louis Ehlert (1825-1884) , "Die Loreley von Heinrich Heine", op. 6.
by Zdenko Antonín Václav Fibich (1850-1900) , "Loreley", op. 7 (Vier Balladen für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte = Čtyři balady) no. 3, H. 181 no. 3 (1872), published 1874 [voice and piano], Leipzig, Lichtenberger
by Edmund von Freyhold (1878-1944) , "Loreley", 1906 [voice and piano], from Gesungene Gedichte mit Klavierbegleitung: Sechs Lieder, no. 2.
by Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890) , "Die Loreley", from Lieder und Gesänge (Volksausgabe, Heft 7, no. 3
by Ferdinand Gleich (1816-1898) , "Die Loreley", from Drei Romanzen, no. 3.
by Ulf A. Grahn , "Die Lorelei", published 1985, first performed 1986 [alto, violin, violoncello, piano], from Three German Folksongs, no. 2.
by J. Grill , "Die Loreley", published 1840, from Vier Romanzen, no. 4.
by Christian Friedrich Grimmer (1798-1850) , "Loreley", from Lieder, no. 18.
by Gustav Adolf Heinze (1820-1904) , "Die Loreley", op. 25 (Vier Lieder für Tenor (oder Mezzo-Sopran) mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 4, published 1887 [tenor or mezzo-soprano and piano], Amsterdam, Wahlberg
by Richard Heinze (1845-1893) , "Durch die Zeitung oder Das Rendezvous : Komisches Duett", op. 112. [duet for soprano and tenor with piano]
by Peter Janssens (1934-) , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten: aus Die Heimkehr", published 1976, from Heinrich Heine Song Buch, no. 9.
by Moritz Kässmayer (1831-1884) , "Licht und Schatten: Potpourri", op. 19, published 1871.
by Al. Kern , "Loreley", op. 4 (Drei Gedichte) no. 1.
by Hermann Kestner (1810-1890) , "Loreley"
by Wilhelm Killmayer (1927-) , "Die Loreley", 1994-5, published c1998 [tenor and piano], from Ein Liederbuch nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine, Abteilung IV, no. 1.
by Johanna Kinkel, née Mockel (1810-1858) , "Die Lorelei", op. 7 (Sechs Lieder) no. 4, published 1838.
by Joseph Klein (1802-1862) , "Loreley: Ballade von H. Heine"
by E. Klitzsch , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 1 (Lieder) no. 6.
by Friedrich Wilhelm Kücken (1810-1882) , "Die Loreley", op. 3. [bass and piano]
by Franz Paul Lachner (1803-1890) , "Die Lore Ley", op. 35 (Zwölf deutsche Gesänge), Heft 2 no. 4.
by Franz (Ferencz) Liszt (1811-1886) , "Loreley", S. 273 no. 1 (1841), published 1843 [voice and piano], note: first version
by Franz (Ferencz) Liszt (1811-1886) , "Die Loreley", S. 273 no. 2 (1854-6), published 1856 [voice and piano], note: second version
by O. Lübbert , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 5 (Lieder) no. 2.
by Hermann von Maltzan , "Loreley", op. 12.
by Carl Ludwig Amand Mangold (1813-1889) , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 74 (Sechs Lieder) no. 5.
by Alfred Michow , "Loreley (Was geht das mich an?)" [speaker and voice (with piano?)], parody
by Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Müller (1835-?) , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 1 (Lieder) no. 4.
by Emil Naumann (1827-1888) , "Loreley", subtitle: "Ballade", op. 3, published 1878 [voice and piano], Berlin, Bote & Bock
by J. W. Nedelmann , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten"
by Joseph Netzer (1808-1864) , "Die Loreley", op. 13. [duet for 2 male voices with clarinet or horn and piano]
by Carl Oberthür (1819-1895) , "Die Loreley", op. 72 (Drei deutsche Lieder) no. 3.
by W. Prischpiczek , "Böhmische Loreley (I was net was sull's bedeuten)"
by Heinrich Proch (1809-1878) , "Die Lorelei", op. 222, published 1876 [voice and piano], Wien, Schreiber
by (Joseph) Joachim Raff (1822-1882) , "Loreley", op. 98 no. 26 (1855-63), from Sanges-Frühling, no. 26.
by Otto Reutter (1870-1931) , "Die Loreley: eine Dialekt-Studie in Form eines Potpourris" [voice and piano], from the collection Original-Vorträge mit Pianoforte, no. 137, Leipzig, Otto Teich ; note: parody?
by Georg Rösser , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten: Couplet"
by Karl Friedrich Rungenhagen (1778-1851) , "Loreley", op. 38 (Sechs Lieder) no. 4. [low voice and piano]
by Louis Schlottmann (1826-1905) , "Die Lore-ley"
by Ruth Schonthal (1924-2006) , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", 1990-1, published c1997, stanza 1 [soprano, flute, 2 clarinets, 2 percussion, violoncello, piano, and synthesizer], from Collagen, no. 1, note: also uses parts of a text from Des Knaben Wunderhorn
by F. Schultz , "Die Loreley", from Gesänge, no. 4
by Friedrich August Schulz (1810-1893) , "Die Loreley", op. 45 (Myrthenkränzchen : Sammlung von Jugendliedern), Heft 2 no. 2, published 1862 [voice and piano], Hannover, Bachmann
by Clara Schumann, née Wieck (1819-1896) , "Lorelei"
by (Philipp) Friedrich Silcher (1789-1860) , "Die Loreley", published 1838. [voice and piano]
by Rudi Spring (1962-) , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 17 (Ich weiß nicht was soll es bedeuten: 7 Lieder) no. 2. [tenor and piano]
by Wilhelm Steifensand (1820-1882) , "Loreley: Ballade", op. 9.
by Emil Steinkühler (1824-) , "Lorelei: von Heine", op. 15. [tenor and piano]
by Julius Stern (1820-1883) , "Die Loreley", op. 1 (Fünf Gesänge) no. 5.
by Reinhold Stöckhardt , "Loreley", op. 1 (Liederkranz), Heft 1 no. 1.
by (Eugen Felix) Richard Thiele (1847-1903) , "Parodie auf die Loreley", op. 62 [speaker and piano], from Melodramatische Parodien klassischer Gedichte, no. 7.
by Otto Tiehsen (1817-1849) , "Loreley", op. 2 (Fünf Gesänge von Heine und Müller) no. 4, published 1839.
by Albert Karl Tottmann (1837-1917) , "Loreley", op. 14. [voice, violin, and piano]
by Walter Trautner (1903-) , "Die Loreley", op. 37 (Lieder) no. 3.
by Anton Urspruch (1850-1907) , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 6 (Liebeslieder nach Texten von Heinrich Heine), Heft 4 no. 3, published 1876.
by Johann Vesque von Püttlingen (1803-1883) , "Loreley", op. 39 (Sechs Gedichte von Heine) no. 1, from Die Heimkehr : 88 Gedichte aus H. Heine's Reisebildern, no. 2.
by Th. Werner , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 1.
by Paul Widemann , "Die Loreley", op. 2 (In Majas Zauber : drei Gedichte) no. 3.
by August Daniel Ferdinand Victor Wilhelmj (1845-1908) , "Loreley"
by Gotthard Wöhler , "Die Loreley", op. 1 (Drei Balladen von Heine) no. 3. [bass and piano]

by Theo. H. Northrup , "The Loreley: legend", op. 181 no. 1, published 1894.

by John G. Barnett (1802-1890) , "The Lore-Ley"

ITA Italian (M. T. Bulciolu) , "Lorelei"
ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , title unknown, from Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine, published 1881
SPA Spanish (Alfredo García) , "Lorelei", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Pierre Mathé) , title unknown, copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FIN Finnish (Erkki Pullinen) , title unknown, copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English [singable] (Arthur Westbrook) , "The Loreley"
POR Portuguese (Margarida Moreno) , "A Loreley", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English [singable] (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) , "The lorelei", from A Tramp Abroad, Volume 1, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, p. 123-4, published 1880

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Notes about green, red, and white dots

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