Oh how happy I am in the evening

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O how happy I am in the evening is a German-language folk song from the 19th century in the form of a canon with three voices .

Melody and lyrics

\ relative c '{\ key c \ major \ time 3/4 \ autoBeamOff c2 ^ "1." d4 | e2 c4 | f2 e4 | e (d) c | f2 e4 | e (d) c \ fermata | \ break e2 ^ "2." f4 | g2 e4 | a2 g4 | g (f) e | a2 g4 | g (f) e \ fermata | \ break c2. ^ "3." | c | c | c | c | c \ fermata \ bar "|." } \ addlyrics {Oh, how happy I am in the evening, in the evening, when the bells are ringing at rest. Bim, bam, bim, bam, bim, bam. }

Oh, how happy I am in the evening
when the bells ring for peace
, bim, bam, bim, bam, bim, bam.

history

The work is usually attributed to the teacher and composer Karl Friedrich Schulz (1784–1850). In fact, the oldest known evidence of the song can be found in 1812 in his teaching on singing. It is not certain whether Schulz is actually the author of the song. The occasional attribution to the Gewandhauskapellmeister Johann Philipp Christian Schulz (1773-1827) is apparently based on a confusion of names. The song was not printed by Johann Daniel Elster (1796–1857) until 1846, at least 30 years after the oldest evidence.

The melody goes back to older models. The melodic model can be found on the text Ubi est spes mea? (“Where is my hope?”) In a liturgical drama that is handed down in a 14th century processional . In the 16th century, this melody was added to the chorale My dear Lord, I praise you .

Also Arcangelo Corelli used in the Pastorale of his "Christmas concert" Fatto per la notte di Natale G minor, Op. 6 no. 8 (1714), a theme that is based on this melody type.

In the Slavic region, the melody lived on in a different rhythmic form than Croatian folk song, which was sung in various text versions in Burgenland-Croatian areas under the title “Stal se jesem” (“I got up”). This was used by Joseph Haydn in 1797 as a template for the Austrian imperial hymn Gott preserve Franz, the emperor ( Hob XXVIa: 43). In 1841 Hoffmann von Fallersleben composed the verses of the song of the Germans for Haydn's melody , which today serves as the German national anthem .

Content and form

With O as well me in the evening is the simplest form of a canon, the "natural canon," the other voice in a voice melodic path through phase shift (here in the third interval ) exactly mimics . The third section of the canon mimics only onomatopoeic on the root note the smooth beat of a bell . In this way, it contributes to the calming effect, which makes the song effective as an evening song .

reception

In Thomas Mann's novel Doctor Faustus , Adrian Leverkühn made his first experiences with polyphonic music based on this canon.

literature

  • Theo Mang, Sunhilt Mang (ed.): The song source . Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 2007, ISBN 978-3-7959-0850-8 , pp. 778-779 .
  • The canon book. Schott, Mainz 1999, ISBN 3-7957-5374-0 , p. 166.
  • Frauke Schmitz-Gropengießer (Ed.): It doesn't take much to be happy. Canon songs (= Reclam UB. 19068). Reclam, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-15-019068-5 , p. 14.
  • Helmut Zelton (Ed.): German folk songs. Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 1988, ISBN 3-7959-0555-9 , p. 117.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Karl Schulz: Guide to singing according to the elementary method. Darnemann, Leipzig / Züllichau / Freistadt o. J. [1812], p. 22. Cf. 2nd edition 1816, p. 60 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  2. ^ Daniel Elster: Swiss Volks-Gesangschule. Theoretical-practical textbook for teachers and students. Zehnder, Baden 1846, p. 233 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  3. ↑ Anselm Schubiger : Musicalische Spicilegien (= publication of older practical and theoretical musical works of the 15th and 16th centuries. Volume 5). Liepmannsohn, Berlin 1873, p. 21 f. ( Text archive - Internet Archive ).
  4. ^ Wilhelm Tappert: Wandering melodies. A musical study. 2nd Edition. Brachvogel & Ranft, Berlin 1889, pp. 7-10 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  5. ↑ Hans Renner : Basics of Music . Reclam, Stuttgart 1953, p. 85. New edition: Schott, Mainz 2003, ISBN 3-254-08367-9 , p. 94 f.
  6. ↑ Kurt Schilling: The art: meaning, development, essence, genres. A. Hain, Meisenheim 1961, p. 168 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  7. ^ Arcangelo Corelli: Concerto grosso op. 6 No. 8: VI. Pastoral on YouTube
  8. ↑ Hans Renner: History of Music . 8th edition. DVA, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-421-06244-7 , p. 345: “[Haydn's] last most beautiful song, the way to 'God preserve Franz the Kaiser' […] has a wide-ranging line of ancestry that extends to an ancient one Bohemian processional song can lead back. ”( limited preview in Google book search).
  9. ↑ Theo Mang, Sunhilt Mang (ed.): Der Liederquell . Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 2007, ISBN 978-3-7959-0850-8 , pp. 778-779 .
  10. ↑ Thomas Mann: Doctor Faustus. The life of the German composer Adrian Leverkühn, told by a friend . Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-596-90403-7 ( limited preview in the Google book search).