Songs

Schweig’ einmal still, du garst’ger Schwätzer dort!

by Hugo Wolf From Italienisches Liederbuch

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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.
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Text & Translation

View IPA

Schweig’ einmal still, du garst’ger Schwätzer dort!
German source: Paul Heyse

Schweig’ einmal still, du garst’ger Schwätzer dort!
Zum Ekel ist mir dein verwünschtes Singen.
Und triebst du es bis morgen früh so fort,
Doch würde dir kein schmuckes Lied gelingen.
Schweig’ einmal still und lege dich aufs Ohr!
Das Ständchen eines Esels zög’ ich vor.

Shut up out there, you odious ranter!
English translation © Richard Stokes

Shut up out there, you odious ranter!
Your cursed singing makes me sick.
And even if you kept it up till morning,
You’d still not manage a decent song.
Shut up for once and go to bed!
I’d sooner hear a donkey’s serenade!

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

Schweig’ einmal still, du garst’ger Schwätzer dort!
German source: Paul Heyse

Shut up out there, you odious ranter!
English source: Richard Stokes

Schweig’ einmal still, du garst’ger Schwätzer dort!
Shut up out there, you odious ranter!
Zum Ekel ist mir dein verwünschtes Singen.
Your cursed singing makes me sick.
Und triebst du es bis morgen früh so fort,
And even if you kept it up till morning,
Doch würde dir kein schmuckes Lied gelingen.
You’d still not manage a decent song.
Schweig’ einmal still und lege dich aufs Ohr!
Shut up for once and go to bed!
Das Ständchen eines Esels zög’ ich vor.
I’d sooner hear a donkey’s serenade!

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

Paul Heyse

Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse was a distinguished German writer and translator. A member of two important literary societies, the Tunnel über der Spree in Berlin and Die Krokodile in Munich, he wrote novels, poetry, 177 short stories, and about sixty…

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