Old German Songbooks, No. 16: Pflüger, Liederbuch für Schule und Leben (1850s); Hesse & Schönlein, Schulliederbuch (1890s); Meyer, Volks-Gesangbuch (1873)

Here are some more songbooks I have scanned (and now uploaded to the Internet Archive). All are from the second half of the 19th century:

• J. G. F. Pflüger, Liederbuch für Schule und Leben, 3 Bde., Friedrich Gutsch, Karlsruhe, 1857/8
  I. Heft, Kinderlieder, 1857
  II. Heft, Volkslieder, 2. Auflage, 1858
  III. Heft, Volksthümliche Lieder, 1858
  Now at the Internet Archive
• Friedrich Hesse & Adalbert Schönstein, Schulliederbuch. Sammlung auserlesener Lieder für Bürger-, Mittel-, höhere Töchter- und höhere Bürgerschulen, Heft II. Lieder für die Mittelklassen, 3. Auflage, Verlagsbuchhandlung von Paul Baumann, Dessau, 1894
  Now at the Internet Archive
  Friedrich Hesse & Adalbert Schönstein, Schulliederbuch. Sammlung auserlesener Lieder für Bürger-, Mittel-, höhere Töchter- und höhere Bürgerschulen, Heft III. Lieder für die Oberklassen, 5. Auflage, Verlagsbuchhandlung von Paul Baumann, Dessau, 1899
  Now at the Internet Archive
• Wilhelm Meyer, Volks-Liederbuch. Auserlesene ältere und neuere Volkslieder und Nationalgesänge des In- und Auslandes mit ihren eigenthümlichen Sangweisen. Für den vierstimmigen Männerchor, Hahn, Hannover, 1873
  Now at the Internet Archive

Both Pflüger and Hesse & Schönlein put together song collections for schools. Here we can see the development of the standard repertoire over 30 years. Pflüger already offered many songs that later became common in songbooks for schools and Hesse & Schönlein's is not that different from other publications from that time. In these books we find the usual amount of religious songs as well as many patriotic ditties and the popular "Volkslieder" by Silcher & co. Both books of course include the "Loreley", a song known to nearly everybody even today. Church and Vaterland, Heimat and nature were the most important topics and sometimes I feel really sorry for the poor children who had to sing something like:

Ich hab' mich ergeben mit Herz und mit Hand dir,
Land voll Lieb' und Leben, mein deutsches Vaterland [etc]
(Pflüger II, No. 23)

I am mostly interested in foreign, especially British, songs that were popular at that time in Germany. Therefore I was surprised to find another text for the tune of "Robin Adair/Eileen Aroon" that I hadn't been aware of (Pflüger III, No. 43; Hesse & Schönlein II, No. 73):

Fröhlicher Jugendsinn füllt uns die Brust,
Leicht durch das Leben hin folgt mir die Lust!
Wenn uns die Veilchen blühn
Wenn über frisches Grün wir durch den Frühling ziehn [...]

This is not exactly a masterpiece of poetry and was only very rarely included in songbooks, much less than the popular standard texts ("Treu und herzinniglich" & "Heut' muß geschieden sein"). Nonetheless it is a nice addition for my work about "Robin Adair" in Germany (on JustAnotherTune.com). Interestingly the tune was taken directly from Boieldieu's La Dame Blanche and not from Silcher's, Erk's or Täglichsbeck's well-known publications. Pflüger even credits Boieldieu as the composer. Someone with the name "Jung" is given as the author of the text in Pflüger's book and I have not able to find out who that was. Hesse & Schönlein - who don't mention Boieldieu but call it "Schottisches Volkslied" - claim it was "J. H. Jung-Stilling (1740-1817)" but that is clearly wrong and misleading. 

Meyer's Volks-Gesangbuch was not intended for schools but includes 4-part arrangements for Männergesangvereine. Interestingly he claims in his preface that most "Volkslieder" are not suitable for school children. That was a quite uncommon opinion at that time. He prefers male choirs as "die Stätte seiner Pflege". But this is a very interesting collection. Meyer included many adaptations of foreign songs from all kinds of countries, particularly from Britain. It seems he especially liked Burns and Moore and we can find here many of their songs. 

This book reflects the German fascination with foreign "Volkslieder" and amusingly he somewhat pats himself and his compatriots on the back for this interest in other people's songs:

"Es kann dem Deutschen nur zur Ehre gereichen, dass er gern sich in das innerste Leben anderer Völker vertieft und ihre Lieder mit Hingabe singt" (p. V).

In fact it is one of the best song collections from that era and the editor clearly tried to avoid much of the standard repertoire. But even he couldn't leave out some of the most popular German classics like the "Loreley" and "Der Mai ist gekommen".

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.

A New Song History: "Robin Adair" in Germany

While researching the history of the songs "Eileen Aroon" and "Robin Adair" I learned - much to my surprise, I must admit - that the tune had also been very popular in the German speaking countries for quite a long time. One adaptation - "Treu und herzinniglich" - was introduced by poet Wilhelm Gerhard in 1826 and it soon became a standard in collections of so-called "Volkslieder". A second text - "Heimat, Ade!" - appeared first in the 1850s and was later not uncommon in songbooks for schools. I got the impression that the Folklorists in Germany didn't care much for these songs and not much research has been done. But in fact this turned out to be a very fascinating story. I have worked quite a long time on that but now I am glad that it is complete and as usual the text that is now available on my website has become much longer than expected:  

• "Treu und herzinniglich, Robin Adair" - A British Tune in Germany (JustAnotherTune.com)

This is conceived more as a kind of documentation but I also felt it necessary to discuss some important theoretical questions. Especially the term "Volkslied" needed some clarification. I was not interested in our current definitions of this very controversial concept - Herder's "cuckoo's egg" (see Chapter III) - but in the practical use of it during the 19th and early 20th century. At that time the "Volkslied" covered a very broad range of songs and today's ideas of "authenticity" are not of much use in this respect.

Besides that I have learned a lot that I didn't know before. For example I must admit that I had never heard of Wilhelm Gerhard, a formerly popular German poet who is completely forgotten today. He not only played an instrumental role in this story but also turned out to be a most fascinating character. A considerable number of his poems and adaptations - later he also translated Burns - were set to music and one gets the impression that his contemporaries regarded him as a very competent lyricist. Perhaps I will write a little more about him in the near future.

Another thing I have learned is that an unbelievable great amount of songbooks and sheet music of all kinds were published during that era. Did the people really use them? At least it seems that music publishing was a worthwhile and rewarding business. But today it is not that easy to keep track of all of them. The holdings of the libraries are somewhat fragmentary, not every publication has survived until today and many songbooks are a little bit difficult to get. Moreover the strange secretiveness of many editors and publishers regarding their sources wasn't particularly helpful. But nonetheless I hope I have reconstructed the song's history in a reasonable way. In one case - the origin of "Heimat, Ade!" - I had to correct myself three times and I am still not sure if there maybe was an even earlier initial publication.

The success and long-running popularity of "Robin Adair" in Germany also shows how easy foreign songs could be integrated into the "Volkslied"-genre. Other songs were even more popular, for example Burns' "My Heart's In The Highlands" - as "Mein Herz ist im Hochland" - and as far as I can see this has not been addressed properly so far. Only after World War I this multicultural attitude began to vanish and the foreign hits were piece by piece purged from the repertoire and then were at best ghettoized in extra chapters. Otherwise it cannot be explained why these kind of songs that had once been so popular have completely disappeared from the musical memory. I hope this text I have written helps a little bit to uncover this not overly well-known chapter of German music history.

Old ([this time:] Swiss) Songbooks, No. 3: Ignaz Heim, Neue Volksgesänge für den Männerchor 1 (1863/1882)

One of the most industrious and dedicated editors of songbooks for choirs in Switzerland was Ignaz Heim (1818-1880; see ADB 50, 1905, pp. 133-5, at BStB-DS and wikisource; a short summary at Wikipedia). Heim came from the town of Renchen in Baden, worked for some years in Freiburg but in 1852 he moved - not at least for political reasons - to Zürich. There he was busy as a choirmaster but also compiled numerous collections of arrangements for mixed and male choirs. 

His most popular publication may have been the Sammlung von Volksgesängen für den Gemischten Chor, a quasi-official songbook for schools as well as Gesangsvereine and other societies and clubs published under the auspices of the committee for music of the school council in the town of Zürich. It first came out in the early 1860s and remained in print for nearly a century. For example the 64th edition was published in 1898 (see catalog entry in Nebis) and the 137th in 1950 (see Nebis). Thankfully the 30th edition (1883) has been digitized and is available online at the Internet Archive:

Another of his successful endeavors was a series of six books with arrangements for male choirs, of which I have the first volume:

• Neue Volksgesänge für den Männerchor. Liederbuch für Schulen und Vereine. Herausgegeben
  
  unter Mitwirkung deutscher und schweizerischer Tonsetzer von Ignaz Heim. Erstes Bändchen. Neunte Stereotypauflage, Zürich, n. d. [1882] (pdf-file, my own scan)

This book was first published in 1863 (1st edition available online at BStB-DS & Google Books). The 9th edition came out in 1882. That year it was listed in Hofmeisters Monatsberichten (p. 361, via Hofmeister XIX). It is an interesting and worthwhile collection but - as usual - the term "Volksgesang" didn't mean songs by the "folk" - in the sense of the modern ethnological definition - but for the people: Heim's aim was to produce simple, but appealing arrangements of songs old and new for the numerous Gesangsvereine - choral societies - that were flourishing. This book therefore includes not only some of his own songs but also pieces by - for example - Silcher, Mendelssohn, Nägeli, Schumann, Weber as well as some so-called "Volksweisen". 

Most interesting here is one of the earliest Swiss versions of "Heimat, Ade!", a text of uncertain origin written for the popular tune of "Robin Adair" (No. 18, pp. 41-2) that later became a standard in German songbooks for schools. But Heim also included the well known German text "Treu und herzinniglich" by Wilhelm Gerhard (1826): 

But most impressive is a list of his publications that were offered for sale at that time: