Songs

Klinge, klinge, mein Pandero

by Hugo Wolf From Spanisches Liederbuch: Weltliche Lieder (1890)

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This song was recorded live at the Oxford Lieder Festival as part of Hugo Wolf: The Complete Songs on Stone Records.
Click here to listen to this song with Birgid Steinberger and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.

Text & Translation

View IPA

Klinge, klinge, mein Pandero
German source: Emanuel Geibel

Klinge, klinge, mein Pandero,
Doch an andres denkt mein Herz.

Wenn du, muntres Ding, verständest 
Meine Qual und sie empfändest,
Jeder Ton, den du entsendest,
Würde klagen meinen Schmerz.

Bei des Tanzes Drehn und Neigen
Schlag’ ich wild den Takt zum Reigen, 
Dass nur die Gedanken schweigen,
Die mich mahnen an den Schmerz.

Ach, ihr Herrn, dann will im Schwingen
Oftmals mir die Brust zerspringen,
Und zum Angstschrei wird mein Singen,
Denn an andres denkt mein Herz.

Ring out, ring out, my tambourine
English translation © Richard Stokes

Ring out, ring out, my tambourine,
Though my heart thinks of other things.
 
If you, blithe instrument, could understand
And feel my torment,
Each one of your sounds
Would bewail my grief.
 
As the dance whirls and turns,
I beat out wildly the dance’s rhythm,
Simply in order to silence the thoughts
That remind me of my grief.
 
Ah, good sirs, while I whirl around,
My heart often feels like breaking,
And my song becomes a cry of anguish,
For my heart thinks of other things.

Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)

Klinge, klinge, mein Pandero
German source: Emanuel Geibel

Ring out, ring out, my tambourine
English source: Richard Stokes

Klinge, klinge, mein Pandero,
Ring out, ring out, my tambourine,
Doch an andres denkt mein Herz.
Though my heart thinks of other things.

Wenn du, muntres Ding, verständest 
Meine Qual und sie empfändest,
Jeder Ton, den du entsendest,
Würde klagen meinen Schmerz.

Bei des Tanzes Drehn und Neigen
Schlag’ ich wild den Takt zum Reigen, 
Dass nur die Gedanken schweigen,
Die mich mahnen an den Schmerz.

Ach, ihr Herrn, dann will im Schwingen
Oftmals mir die Brust zerspringen,
Und zum Angstschrei wird mein Singen,
Denn an andres denkt mein Herz.

Composer

Hugo Wolf

Hugo Filipp Jakob Wolf was born on 13 March 1860, the fourth of six surviving children, in Windischgraz, Styria, then part of the Austrian Empire. He was taught the piano and violin by his father at an early age and continued to study piano at the…

Poet

Emanuel Geibel

Emanuel von Geibel , German poet and playwright. He was born at Lübeck, the son of a pastor. He was originally intended for his father's profession and studied at Bonn and Berlin, but his real interests lay not in theology but in classical and…

Performances

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