Strumpfsinn Lieder

Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND

Strumpfsinn Lieder - (2006)

Joachim Ringelnatz

for medium or high voice and piano

Monika Krause gewidmet

i. Die Schnupftabaksdose [ 5 pages, 2' 15" ]

Es war eine Schnupftabaksdose,
Die hatte Friedrich der Große
Sich selbst geschnitzelt aus Nußbaumholz.
Und darauf war sie natürlich stolz.

Da kam ein Holzwurm gekrochen.
Der hatte Nußbaum gerochen.
Die Dose erzählte ihm lang und breit
Von Friedrich dem Großen und seiner Zeit.

Sie nannte den alten Fritz generös.
Da aber wurde der Holzwurm nervös
Und sagte, indem er zu bohren begann:
"Was geht mich Friedrich der Große an!"

ii. Ein männlicher Breifmark [ 2 pages, 1' 35" ]

Ein männlicher Briefmark erlebte
Was Schönes, bevor er klebte.
Er war von einer Prinzessin beleckt.
Da war die Liebe in ihm erweckt.

Er wollte sie wiederküssen,
Da hat er verreisen müssen.
So liebte er sie vergebens.
Das ist die Tragik des Lebens!

iii. Ein große Genie [ 5 pages, 1' 40" ]

Er war ein Brikett, ein großes Genie,
Das Philosophie studierte
Und später selbst an der Akademie
Im gleichen Fache dozierte.

Wimmbamm Bumm ^{[ 1 ]}

Wimm Bammbumm

Wimm Bamm Bumm

Wimm Bammbumm

Wimm Bamm Bumm

Wimmbamm Bumm

Wimm Bamm Bumm

Wimmbamm Bumm

Wimm Bammbumm.

Es sprach zur versammelten Briketterie:
"Verehrliches Auditorium,
Das Leben -- das Leben --beachten Sie --
Ist nichts als ein Provisorium."

Wimmbamm Bumm

Wimm Bammbumm

Wimm Bamm Bumm

Wimm Bammbumm

Wimm Bamm Bumm

Wimmbamm Bumm

Wimm Bamm Bumm

Wimmbamm Bumm

Wimm Bammbumm.

Da wurde als ketzerisch gleich verbannt
Der Satz mit dem Provisorium.
Das arme Brikett, das wurde verbrannt
In einem Privatkrematorium.

iv. Eine gelbe Zitrone [ 3 pages, 1' 15" ]

Es war eine gelbe Zitrone,

Die lag unter einer Kanone,

Und deshalb bildete sie sich ein,

Eine Kanonenkugel zu sein.

Der Kanonier im ersten Glied,

Der merkte aber den Unterschied.

Bemerkt sei noch zu diesem Lied,

Ein Unterschied ist kein Oberschied.

v. Unterm Tisch [ 4 pages, 2' 00" ]

Es war ein Stückchen Fromage de brie,
Das fiel unterm Tisch. Man sah nicht wie.
Dort standen zwei Lackschuh mit silbernen Schnallen.
Die fanden an dem Fromage Gefallen
Und traten nach einiger Überwindung
Mit ihm in ganz intime Verbindung.
Als abends die beidem Schnallengezierten
In einer feudalen Gesellschaft souptieren,
Erhoben sich plötzlich zwei andere Schuhe
Und knarrten verlegen und baten um Ruhe
Und sagten, als alles ruhig war:
"Verehrte, es -- riecht hier so sonderbar."

[ Total cycle: 19 pages, 8' 45" ]

Joachim Ringelnatz

Joachim Ringelnatz (1883-1934) was born in Wurzen as Hans Bötticher, his nom de plume by which he is known today having been taken in his childhood. After school, he spent some years as a sailor, and served as a commandant of a mine sweeping vessel during World War I. Afterwards he emerged as influential in Munich's social circle, giving readings of his work. He was thereupon "discovered," and made a career as a traveling artist, with successes such as his Turngedichten and the "songs" of his fictional sailor, Kuttel Daddeldu. His reputation as a classic among modern German humorists blossomed. In 1933 under the Nazis he was banned from public appearances and his books were confiscated. A year later, impoverished, he died.

Herman Hesse wrote he was "...a noble dreamer of a fine sort with an author's heart and a small comic character in a chivalrous head." Ringelnatz' collected verses and longer poems are found in Sämtliche Gedichte (Zürich, Diogenes Verlag AG, 1994, 1997), and his complete works are available from the same publisher, edited by Walter Pape.

i. The Snuff Box

There was a snuff box,
that Frederick the Great himself
Had carved out of walnut.
And for this he was naturally proud.

There came a woodworm crawling.
He had smelled walnut.
The snuff box told him at length
Of Frederick the Great and his age.

He said the Old Fritz was generous.
But that made the woodworm jittery
And he said, as he began to bore:
"What has Frederick the Great to do with me!"

ii. A Manly Stamp

A manly stamp had a lovely experience,
Before he was stuck.
He was licked by a princess.
And so was love awakened in him.

He wanted to kiss her more,
But he was sent away.
Therefore he loved her to no avail.
Such is the tragedy of life!

iii. A Great Genius

There was a briquette, a great genius,
Who studied philosophy
And later himself at the college
Lectured in the same discipline.

Wimmbamm Bumm

Wimm Bammbumm

Wimm Bamm Bumm

Wimm Bammbumm

Wimm Bamm Bumm

Wimmbamm Bumm

Wimm Bamm Bumm

Wimmbamm Bumm

Wimm Bammbumm.

He spoke to the assembled Briquettes:
"Honored Auditorium,
Life -- our life -- please observe --
Is not really a temporary thing.

Wimmbamm Bumm

Wimm Bammbumm

Wimm Bamm Bumm

Wimm Bammbumm

Wimm Bamm Bumm

Wimmbamm Bumm

Wimm Bamm Bumm

Wimmbamm Bumm

Wimm Bammbumm.

Then as heretical were banned
That sentence and the "temporary thing."
The poor briquette, he was eventually burned
In a private crematorium. ^{[ 2 ]}

iv. A yellow lemon

There was a yellow lemon,

That lay under a cannon,

And therefore imagined itself

To be a cannon ball.

The artilleryman of the first rank ^{[ 3 ]}

Noticed the difference.

Take notice of this in this song,

A difference is no great divergence of opinion.

v. Under the Table

A little piece of Brie cheese
Fell under the table. No one saw how.
There stood two patent-leather shoes with silver buckles.
They found the cheese appealing;
They tried and, after some great effort,
Became intimately acquainted with it.
In the evening both the buckle-adorned
Dined in aristocratic company,
When suddenly another pair of shoes rose up,
And, creaking in embarrassment, asked for silence,
And, when all were silent, said:
"Honored guests, it -- smells so peculiar in here."

Monika Krause

Together with Monika Krause and Ned Barth, I had performed concert performances of the first act of Die Walküre in Aachen. We enjoyed our time together very much, and over dinner between rehearsals I had mentioned wanting to compose something for Monika's voice. She suggested "the first thing to come to my mind." Earlier in the week, I had just picked up an anthology of Joachim Ringelnatz, and was enchanted reading his early comic works at the moment. Therefore this song cycle dedicated to her and "the first thing to come to my mind." Aside from dinner, of course, though that might be found in the last of these songs.

A slightly more acerbic song to a poem of Ringelnatz and not part of this cycle is titled Fliege und Wanze.

The score in the high key 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 piano-vocal score.

Strumpfsinn Lieder für hohe Stimme und Klavier

NOTES

^{[ 1 ]} This three line refrain of nonsense syllables is twice inserted into Ringelnatz' text about the "philosophic" charcoal briquette, and is itself another poem itself with the lengthy comic title, "Ein Lied, das der berühmte Philosoph Haeckel am 3. Juli 1911 vormittags auf einer Gartenpromenade vor sich hinsang (Vor einem Ohrenzeugen)."

Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) was a zoologist and philosopher, who popularized the work of Charles Darwin in Germany. One would note the similarity in the verse's nonsensical scansion to the actor's faux exercise of placing stress in various places to find some additional meaning -- where there often isn't any.

^{[ 2 ]} The coda's musical joke is the incorrect quote which accompanies the end of this "tragic" story, as the briquette is "cremated" to the truncated strains of Wagner's "magic fire music" from the Ring, this time in the minor keys of G and B flat. "A great genius," suggests Ringelnatz; ah, but who?

^{[ 3 ]} Ringelnatz was a punster, and one might make note that "Glied" could refer to not only the artilleryman's rank or position in his company, but also refer to his genitalia, since this poem is about fancying one's self "greater" than reality might admit. Given the linguistic gender of both the lemon and the artilleryman, one might well argue that this is true for both genders.