German Versions of "Eileen Aroon" (1874/1885)

I have already written quite a lot about the great popularity of the British song "Robin Adair" in 19th- and early 20th-century Germany (see my text on JustAnotherTune.com). But what I wasn't aware of until recently was that it's partner piece "Eileen Aroon" also was translated into German language and subsequently set to music by at least three composers. I only learned that when reading Ernst Fleischhack's bibliography of musical settings of Ferdinand Freiligrath's poems and translations (Freiligrath's Gedichte in Lied und Ton, Bielefeld 1990, here p. 60). 

The indefatigable Freiligrath (1810-1876) was at that time one of the most important and influential mediators of English language poetry and song lyrics. Composers loved his adaptations - especially those of Robert Burns' and Thomas Moore's songs - and supplied them with new tunes. According to Fleischhack (p. 18) 71 of his translations were set to music a total of 425 times.

His "Eileen-A-Roon" - described as "Irisches Volkslied" - was published in Zwischen den Garben. Eine Nachlese älterer Gedichte (Stuttgart & Tübingen 1849, pp. 182-3, at BStB-DS) and the title of this interesting collection of poems and translations suggests that it may have been written earlier.

Stets will ich lieben dich,
Eileen-a-roon!
Segnen dich ewiglich,
Eileen-a-roon!
O für dich eilt' ich gern
Irland durch, nah und fern,
Hoffnung mein Licht, mein Stern,
Eileen-a-roon!

O wie gewinn' ich dich,
Eileen-a-roon?
Sag', o wie minn' ich dich,
Eileen-a-roon?
Gern ohne Rast und Ruh'
Zög' ich der Ferne zu,
Würdest mein Hausweib du,
Eileen-a-roon!

Drum, willst Du ziehn mit mir,
Eileen-a-roon?
Sag', aber bleibst du hier,
Eileen-a-roon?
Nein, ich bin dein, bin dein!
Ziehe mit dir allein!
Einzig dein Lieb soll sein
Eileen-a-roon!

Heil hundertausendmal,
Eileen-a-roon!
Heil dir ohn' Maß und Zahl,
Eileen-a-roon!
Heil und Willkommen froh,
Jetzt und für immer so,
Bis Lieb' und Leben floh,
Eileen-a-roon!

 The original English language text is quite easy to find, even though Freiligrath for some reason preferred not to mention the source. It is poet Thomas Furlong's translation of an Irish text that was published in 1831 by James Hardiman in his Irish Minstrelsy, Or: Bardic Remains Of Ireland With English Poetical Translations (pp. 265-7):

I love thee evermore,
Eileen a Roon!
I'll bless thee o'er and o'er,
Eileen a Roon!
Oh! for thy sake I'll tread,
Where the plains of Mayo spread;
By hope still fondly led,
Eileen a Roon!

Oh! how may I gain thee?
Eileen a roon!
Shall feasting entertain thee?
Eileen a Roon!
I would range the world wide,
With love alone to guide,
To win thee for my bride,
Eileen a Roon!

Then wilt thou come away?
Eileen a roon!
Oh! wilt thou come or stay?
Eileen a Roon!
Oh yes! oh Yes! with thee
I will wander far and free,
And thy only love shall be,
Eileen a Roon!

A hundred thousand welcomes,
Eileen a Roon!
A hundred thousand welcomes,
Eileen a Roon!
Oh! welcome evermore,
With welcomes yet in store,
Till love and life are o'er,
Eileen a Roon!

Hardiman had called this text the "Old Eileen Aroon" and his notes (p. 328) somewhat suggest that "the original and sweetly simple song of Eileen a roon" was at that time already a couple of hundred years old, at least older than the other version in his book (on p. 211) which is described as "the production of a Munster bard, of a seventeenth century" (p. 328). But there is no evidence for these claims and at the moment I still don't know where Hardiman had found the two original Irish texts. 

I wonder if Freiligrath had a copy of Hardiman's book. It is not listed in the Verzeichniss of his library (available at the Internet Archive) that was put together after his death. But as far as I know Furlong's translation hadn't been published anywhere else up to that point. 

Three composers have set Freiligrath's text to music:

• Heinrich Bellermann, Sechs Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte : op. 18, No. 5, "Stets will ich lieben dich", Berlin, Trautwein, n. d. [1871, see Hofmeister XIX; only extant copy at Musikwissenschaftliches Institut, Universität Hamburg, II Bel-3 G 1.1 ]
• Carl Banck, 24 Lieder und Gesänge für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, op. 70, No. 9: Eileen a Roon („Stets will ich lieben dich“), Leipzig, Kistner, n. d. [1874, see Hofmeister XIX; only extant copy at Musikwissenschaftliches Seminar, Universität Heidelberg, N 91::9]
• Eusebius Mandyczewski, Lieder und Gesänge für gemischten Chor, Op. 8, Heft 1, No 1. Eileen-a-Roon. Irisches Volkslied, Wien, Rebay & Robitschek, n. d. [1885, s. Hofmeister XIX, only extant copy at ÖNB, Wien, MS83074-4°]

Unfortunately I couldn't get Bellermann's version but was glad to receive copies of the other two. Carl Banck (1809-1889, see H. A. Lier in ADB 46, Leipzig 1902, pp. 199-202, at BStB-DS; see also Wikipedia), composer, mostly of songs, and music critic, published this collection in 1874. It was one of his late works. These 24 songs are mostly settings of German poems, some of them by Mörike and Heine. But he also included a Lithuanian and a Danish "Volkslied". His tune for "Eileen-a-roon" sounds of course in no way like the original Irish melody: 

 

Eusebius Mandyczewski (1857-1929; see M. Handlos in: NDB 16, Berlin 1990, pp. 20, at BStB-DS; see also Wikipedia), a composer and scholar from Romania living in Vienna, included his setting of Freiligrath's "Eileen-a-roon" in one of his earliest works. This collection is not that dissimilar from Banck's. He also used mostly German language poems - here for example by Körner, Geibel and Rückert - but also two translations of foreign songs, in this case both by Burns. All of them were arranged for a mixed choir. Here is the soprano voice of his arrangement:

Credits:

• I wish to thank the Musikwissenschaftliches Seminar, Universität Heidelberg for sending me a copy of Banck's work. And I also wish to thank the professional scanning service of the ÖNB, Wien, for supplying me with a copy of Mandyczewski's collection.