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Es saß in meiner Knabenzeit - (2018)
Wilhelm Busch
for baritone and piano
Es saß in meiner Knabenzeit
Ein Fräulein jung und frisch
Im ausgeschnittnen grünen Kleid
Mir vis-à-vis bei Tisch.
Und wie's denn so mit Kindern geht,
Sehr frömmig sind sie nie,
Ach, dacht ich oft beim Tischgebet,
Wie schön ist doch Marie!1 page, circa 1' 00"
The text was published in the Busch collection, Kritik des Herzens (Bassermann, Heidelberg, 1874). As with this Busch illustration from another work, Tobias Knopp, a little décolletage captures his imagination and lingers in memory which seems not to age, as the rhymed English paraphrase below suggests.
In my memory of a youthful day
A maiden young and fresh
With her green dress' décolleté
Sat across from me in the flesh.
And as has happened always with kids,
We were perhaps a little free;
Ah, I've think often of that time of grace,
How lovely is my Marie!Copyright © 2018 Gary Bachlund All international rights reserved.
The range and tessitura for a baritone, rather than tenor, is intended to heighten the intensity of this little snippet from a man's memory. For other settings of Busch's texts, click here.
The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this art song score.
