Die tote Nachtigall

Du arme, kleine Nachtigall! 
Du solltest den Frühling wecken
mit deinem holden, süßen Schall, 
und nun muß dich die Erde decken! 

Dein Mütterlein sucht bang sein Kind, 
wie fehlst du im Kreis der Kleinen! 
Es weint sich fast die Augen blind, 
wie traurig, ach! Das ist zum weinen. 

Und wenn der Frühling nun erwacht 
mit seiner Nachtigallen Lieder, 
Dann schläfst du still in Grabes Nacht, 
und ach! kein Ruf erweckt dich wieder.

Input by Virginia Knight

Authorship

by (Johann) Philipp Kaufmann (1802-1846) , title unknown

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

by Franz (Ferencz) Liszt (1811-1886) , "Die tote Nachtigall", S. 291 no. 1 (1843), published 1844. [voice and piano]
by Franz (Ferencz) Liszt (1811-1886) , "Die tote Nachtigall", S. 291 no. 2 (1870-9), published 1879. [voice and piano]

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The dead nightingale", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

Notes about green, red, and white dots

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