Franz Joseph Haydn

(1732-1809)

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The Lieder of Franz Joseph Haydn

Lieder – index:

1. Content

2. Cupido

3. Das Leben ist ein Traum, H. 21

4. Das strickende Mädchen

5. Der erste Kuß

6. Despair

7. Die zu späte Ankunft der Mutter

8. Eine sehr gewöhnliche Geschichte

9. Fidelity

10. Lob der Faulheit, H. 22

11. O Tuneful Voice, H. 37

12. Pensi a me sì fido amante

13. Piercing Eyes

14. Pleasing Pain

15. Recollection

16. Sailor's Song

17. She Never Told Her Love

18. Sympathy

19. The Lady's Looking-glass

20. The Mermaid's Song

21. The Spirit's Song

22. The Wanderer

23. Un tetto umil

24. A Pastoral Song

1. "Content"
 
 
Text by Anonymous
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

Ah me, how scanty is my store!
Yet, for myself, I'd ne'er repine,
Tho' of the flocks that whiten o'er
Yon plain one lamb were only mine.
 
'Tis for my lovely maid alone,
This heart has e'er ambition known;
This heart, secure in its treasure,
Is bless'd beyond measure,
Nor envies the monarch his throne.
 
When in her sight from morn to eve,
The hours they pass unheeded by;
No dark distrust our bosoms grieves,
And care and doubt far distant fly.
 
'Tis for my lovely maid alone,
This heart has e'er ambition known;
This heart, secure in its treasure,
Is bless'd beyond measure,
Nor envies the monarch his throne.

2. "Weißt du, mein kleines Mägdelein"
 
 
Text by Gottlieb von Leon (1757-1830)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn, "Cupido"
 
See also:

Johann Holzer (fl. 1779), "Kupido", published 1779

Weißt du, mein kleines Mägdelein,
Wer wohl Cupido ist?
Es ist ein kleines Knäbelein,
Voll Argheit, Schwänk' und List.
 
Rückwärts hängt ihm ein Köcherlein,
Wohl auch ein Borgen rund,
Mit dem schießt's tief ins Herz hinein
Und macht dir's liebenswund.
 
Dann seufzt und weint dein armes Herz,
Leidt große Qual und Pein,
Und nichts kann stillen dir den Schmerz,
Ein Männlein nur allein.
 
Ach Liebchen, fleuch sein Schelmenspiel
Und trau und bau ihm nicht;
Er schießt der Herzen allzuviel,
Der kleine Bösewicht

3. "Das Leben ist ein Traum"
 
 
Text by Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim (1719-1803)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn, no. 21

Das Leben ist ein Traum!
Wir schlüpfen in die Welt und schweben
Mit jungem Zahn und frischem Gaum
Auf ihrem Wahn und ihrem Schaum
Bis wir nicht mehr an Erde kleben.
Und dann, was ist's? Was ist das Leben?
Das Leben ist ein Traum.
 
Das Leben ist ein Traum!
Wir lieben, unsre Herzen schlagen,
Und Herz an Herz gefüget kaum,
Wird Lieb und Scherz ein leerer Schaum,
Ist hingeschwunden, weggetragen.
Was ist das Leben? hör ich fragen.
Das Leben ist ein Traum.
 
Das Leben ist ein Traum!
Wir denken, zweifeln, werden weise,
Wir teilen ein in Ort und Raum,
In Licht und Schein, in Kraut und Baum,
Sind Euler und gewinnen Preise;
Doch noch im Grabe sagen Weise:
Das Leben ist ein Traum.

4. "Das strickende Mädchen"
 
 
Text by Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) after Sir Charles Sedley (1639-1701)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn
 
See also:

Josef Antonín `St`epán (1726-1797), published 1778-9
Henry Purcell (1658/9-1695), "The knotting song", (in English)

"Und hörst du, kleine Phyllis, nicht
Der Vöglein süßes Lied?
Sie singen, sie antworten sich,
Da mich dein Antwort flieht."
Phyllis, ohne Sprach' und Wort,
Saß und strickte,
Saß und strickte ruhig fort.
 
"So manchen Tag, so manches Jahr
Schlich ich dir einsam nach;
Und nie ein Wort und nie ein Blick -
Soll ich verzweifeln, Ach!"
Auf stand Phyllis ohne Wort,
Ging und strickte,
Ging und strickte ruhig fort.

5. "Leiser nannt' ich deinen Namen"
 
 
Text by Johann Georg Jacobi (1740-1814)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn, "Der erste Kuß"
 
See also: 

Josef Antonín `St`epán (1726-1797), "Liebesbund", published 1778-9

Leiser nannt' ich deinen Namen;
Und mein Auge warb um dich:
Liebe Chloe! Näher kamen
Unser beider Herzen sich.
 
O, es war ein süßes Neigen;
Bis wir endlich, Mund an Mund,
Fest uns hielten, ohne Zeugen -
Und geschlossen war der Bund!
Bis wir endlich fest uns hielten,
Und geschlossen war der Bund.

6. "Despair"
 
 
Text by Anne Hunter (fl. 1790)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

The anguish of my bursting heart
Till now my tongue hath ne'er betray'd.
Despair at length reveals the smart;
No time can cure, no hope can aid.
 
My sorrows verging to the grave,
No more shall pain thy gentle breast.
Think, death gives freedom to the slave,
Nor mourn for me when I'm at rest.

7. "Die zu späte Ankunft der Mutter"
 
 
Text by Christian Felix Weisse (1726-1804)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

Beschattet von blühenden Ästen,
Gekühlet von spielenden Westen,
Lag Rosilis am Bache hier
Und Hylas neben ihr.
 
Von Lenz und Liebe gerühret,
Ward Hylas zum Küssen verführet.
Er küßte sie, er drückte sie,
Daß sie um Hilfe schrie.
 
Die Mutter kam eilend und fragte,
Was Hylas für Frevel hier wagte?
Die Tochter rief: es ist geschehn,
Ihr könnt nun wieder gehn.

8. "Eine sehr gewöhnliche Geschichte"
 
 
Text by Christian Felix Weisse (1726-1804)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

Philint stand jüngst vor Babetts Tür
Und klopft' und rief: "Ist niemand hier?
Ich bin Philint! Laßt mich hinein!"
Sie kam und sprach: "Nein, nein!"
 
Er seufzt' und bat recht jämmerlich.
"Nein", sagte sie, "ich fürchte dich;
Es ist schon Nacht, ich bin allein:
Philint, es kann nicht sein!"
 
Bekümmert will er wieder gehn,
Da hört er schnell den Schlüssel drehn;
Er hört: "Auf einen Augenblick!
Doch geh auch gleich zurück!"
 
Die Nachbarn plagt die Neugier sehr:
Sie warteten der Wiederkehr;
Er kam auch, doch erst morgens früh.
Ei, ei! Wie lachten sie!

9. "Fidelity"
 
 
Text by Anne Hunter (fl. 1790)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

While hollow burst the rushing winds,
And heavy beats the show'r,
This anxious, aching bosom finds
No comfort in its pow'r.
No, no.
 
For ah, my love, it little knows
What thy hard fate may be,
What bitter storm of fortune blows,
What tempests trouble thee.
 
A wayward fate hath spun the thread
On which our days depend,
And darkling in the checker'd shade,
She draws it to an end.
 
But whatsoe'er may be our doom,
The lot is cast for me,
For in the world or in the tomb,
My heart is fix'd on thee.

10. "Lob der Faulheit"
 
 
Text by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn, no. 22

Faulheit, endlich muß ich dir
Auch ein kleines Loblied bringen!
O!. . . Wie. . . sauer. . . wird es mir
Dich nach Würde zu besingen!
Doch ich will mein Bestes tun:
Nach der Arbeit ist gut ruhn.
 
Höchstes Gut, wer dich nur hat,
Dessen ungestörtes Leben. . .
Ach!. . . ich gähn!. . . ich. . . werde matt.
Nun, so magst du mir's vergeben,
Daß ich dich nicht singen kann:
Du verhinderst mich ja dran.

11. "O Tuneful Voice"
 
 
Text by Anne Hunter (fl. 1790)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn, no. 37

O tuneful voice I still deplore,
Thy accents, which I hear no more,
Still vibrate on my heart.
 
In Echo's cave I long to dwell
And still to hear that sad farewell
When we were forced to part.
 
Bright eyes! O that the task were mine
To guard the liquid fires that shine
And round your orbits play,
 
To watch them with a vestal's care,
To feed with smiles a light so fair
That it may ne'er decay.

12. "Pensi a me sì fido amante"
 
 
Text by Anonymous
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

Pensi a me sì fido amante
Come a te sempr'io costante?
 
Sì, mio tesoro, penso a te,
sì, per quell'oro del piacere,
che, oh dio! per me passar leggere,
che ardente al mio tuo cor s'unì.
 
Scordar potrei tuo dolce amore,
smorzar dovrei sì bell'ardore,
che ognor per te il mio cor riempi?
No, no! Sempre io penso a te!
 
Io penso a te, se a morte in seno
estinto ancor mio cor vien meno,
degli occchi il lume spento andrà.
 
Allora in mezzo a questo core
germoglierà vezzoso fiore,
che il fior sarà di fedeltà

13. "Piercing Eyes"
 
 
Text by Anonymous
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

Why asks my fair one if I love?
Those eyes so piercing bright
Can ev'ry doubt of that remove,
And need no other light.
 
Those eyes full well do known my heart,
And all its working see,
E'er since they play'd the conq'ror's part,
And I no more was free.

14. "Pleasing Pain"
 
 
Text by Anne Hunter (fl. 1790)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

Far from this throbbing bosom haste,
Ye doubts, ye fears, that lay it waste;
Dear anxious days of pleasing pain,
Fly never to return again.
 
But ah, return ye smiling hours,
By careless fancy cron'd with flow'rs;
Come, fairy joys and wishes gay,
And dance in sportive rounds away.
 
So shall the moments gaily glide
O'er various life's tumultuous tide,
Nor sad regrets disturb their course
To calm oblivion's peaceful source.

15. "Recollection"
 
 
Text by Anne Hunter (fl. 1790)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

The season comes when first we met,
But you return no more.
Why cannot I the days forget,
Which time can ne'er restore?
O days too fair, too bright to last,
Are you indeed forever past?
 
The fleeting shadows of delight
In memory I trace;
In fancy stop their rapid flight
And all the past replace.
But ah! I wake to endless woes,
And tears the fading visions close.

16. "Sailor's Song"
 
 
Text by Anonymous
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

High on the giddy bending mast
The seaman furls the rending sail,
And, fearless of the rushing blast,
He careless whistles to the gale.
 
Rattling ropes and rolling seas,
Hurlyburly, hurlyburly,
War nor death can him displease.
 
The hostile foe his vessel seeks,
High bounding o'er the raging main,
The roaring cannon loudly speaks,
Tis Britain's glory we maintain.
 
Rattling ropes and rolling seas,
Hurlyburly, hurlyburly,
War nor death can him displease.

17. "She Never Told Her Love"
 
 
Text by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

She never told her love,
But let concealment, like a worm in the bud,
Feed on her damask cheek...;
She sat, like Patience on a monument,
Smiling at grief.

18. "Sympathy"
 
 
Text after Pietro Metastasio (pen name of P. Antonio Domenico Bonaventura Trapassi, 1698-1782)
 
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

  
In thee I bear so dear a part,
By love so firm, so firm am thine,
That each affection of thy heart
By sympathy is mine.
 
When thou art griev'd, I grieve no less,
My joys by thine are known,
And ev'ry good thou would'st possess
Becomes in wish my own.

19. "The Lady's Looking-glass"
 
 
Text by Anonymous
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

Trust not too much to that enchanting face;
Beauty's a charm, but soon that charm will pass.

20. "The Mermaid's Song"
 
 
Text by Anne Hunter (fl. 1790)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

Now the dancing sunbeams play
On the green and glassy sea,
Come, and I will lead the way
Where the pearly treasures be.
 
Come with me, and we will go
Where the rocks of coral grow.
Follow, follow, follow me.
 
Come, behold what treasures lie
Far below the rolling waves,
Riches, hid from human eye,
Dimly shine in ocean's caves.
Ebbing tides bear no delay,
Stormy winds are far away.
 
Come with me, and we will go
Where the rocks of coral grow.
Follow, follow, follow me.

21. "The Spirit's Song"
 
 
Text by Anne Hunter (fl. 1790)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

Hark! Hark, what I tell to thee,
Nor sorrow o'er the tomb;
My spirit wanders free,
And waits till thine shall come.
 
All pensive and alone,
I see thee sit and weep,
Thy head upon the stone
Where my cold ashes sleep.
 
I watch thy speaking eyes,
And mark each falling tear;
I catch thy passing sighs,
Ere they are lost in air.
 
Hark! Hark, what I tell to thee,
Nor sorrow o'er the tomb;
My spirit wanders free,
And waits till thine shall come.

22. "The Wanderer"
 
 
Text by Anne Hunter (fl. 1790)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn
 

 
To wander alone when the moon, faintly beaming
With glimmering lustre, darts thro' the dark shade,
Where owls seek for covert, and nightbirds complaining
Add sound to the horror that darkens the glade.
 
'Tis not for the happy; come, daughter of sorrow,
'Tis here thy sad thoughts are embalm'd in thy tears,
Where,l lost in the past, disregarding tomorrow,
There's nothing for hopes and nothing for fears.

23. "Un tetto umil"
 
 
Text by Anonymous
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

Un tetto umil, cui cinge il faggio e il pin,
cui splende al nascere il sole del matin.
Dal sonno là mi sveglia l'usignol.
 
Frugal ristor, che amor m'appresta sol;
un campicell', che non ha imposte ancor;
un vecchio buon vicin, che m'ama ognor;
 
Un chiaro cielo, un puro sangue in sen
ed al lavor il cor seren.
Sì bel destin! tu invidi forse a me?
L'avessi io pur, per farne parte a te!

24. "A Pastoral Song"
 
 
Text by Anne Hunter (fl. 1790)
Music by Franz Josef Haydn

My mother bids me bind my hair
With bands of rosy hue,
Tie up my sleeves with ribbons rare,
And lace my bodice blue.
 
For why, she cries, sit still and weep,
While others dance and play?
Alas! I scarce can go or creep,
While Lubin is away.
 
'Tis sad to think the days are gone,
When those we love were near;
I sit upon this mossy stone,
And sigh when none can hear.
 
And while I spin my flaxen thread,
And sing my simple lay,
The village seems asleep, or dead,
Now Lubin is away.