Lilla to the red light of dawn
(Poet's title: Lilla an die Morgenröte)
Set by Schubert:
D 273
[August 25, 1815]
Wie schön bist du, du güldne Morgenröte,
Wie feierlich bist du!
Dir jauchzt im festlichen Gesang der Flöte
Der Schäfer dankbar zu.
Dich grüßt des Waldes Chor, melodisch singet
Die Lerch’ und Nachtigall;
Und rings umher vom Feld und Wald erklinget
Der Freude Widerhall.
How beautiful you are, golden dawn,
How festive you are!
You are hailed in the celebratory song on the flute
Played, in thanksgiving to you, by the shepherd.
The chorus in the forest greets you, there is melodious singing
By the lark and the nightingale,
And all around, from the fields and woods, can be heard
The echo of joy.
All translations into English that appear on this website, unless otherwise stated, are by Malcolm Wren. You are free to use them on condition that you acknowledge Malcolm Wren as the translator and schubertsong.uk as the source. Unless otherwise stated, the comments and essays that appear after the texts and translations are by Malcolm Wren and are © Copyright.
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Themes and images in this text:
Birds Echo Gold Hills and mountains Joy Larks Melody Morning and morning songs Mountains and cliffs Nightingales, Philomel Pipes and flutes Red and purple Shepherds Valleys Woods – large woods and forests (Wald)
The red glow of dawn (Morgenröte) elicits a response: a shepherd plays his flute (Flöte). The strong rhymes of the poem evoke the echoing sounds of early morning. There is singing and ringing (singet / erklinget), with the inevitable echo (Widerhall) of the nightingale (Nachtigall).
We have to wonder what dawn looked and sounded like in Vienna on the morning of 24th August 1815. What was it that led Schubert (normally so devoted to the sunset and songs about the end of the day) to set Stolberg-Stolberg’s ‘Morgenlied’ (Morning Song D 266) to music? Having done so he presumably spent some time looking for or assembling further poems on the same theme, because on the following day (25th August) he was busy composing nine different songs or part-songs (that we know of). Of these, three were celebrations of the rising sun:
D 270 An die Sonne (Baumberg)
D 272 An die Sonne (Tiedge)
D 273 Lilla an die Morgenröte
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Original Spelling Lilla an die Morgenröte Wie schön bist du, du güldne Morgenröte, Wie feierlich bist du! Dir jauchzt im festlichen Gesang der Flöte Der Schäfer dankbar zu. Dich grüßt des Waldes Chor, melodisch singet Die Lerch' und Nachtigall; Und rings umher vom Feld und Wald erklinget Der Freude Widerhall.