Music and Texts of Gary Bachlund

Ufm Bergli
Bin i gsässe,
Ha de Vögle
Zuegschaut;
Hänt gsunge,
Hänt gsprunge,
Hänt`s Nestli
Gebaut.

In ä Garte
bin i gestande,
Ha de Imbli
Zugeschaut;
Hänt gebrummet,
Hänt gesummet,
Hänt Zelli
Gebaut.

Uf d' Wiese
bin i gange,
Lugt i Summer-
Vögle a;
Hänt gesoge,
Hänt gepfloge,
Gar z' schön hänt s'
Getan.

Und da kummet nu
der Hansel,
und da zeig i
Em froh,
Wie sie's mache,
und mer lache
und mache' s
Au so.

On the hills I have stood, and watched the birds;
They had sung, they had hopped, they had built their nests.
In the garden I have stood, and watched the bees;
They had buzzed, they had hummed, they had built their hive.
Through a field I had gone to see the summer fowl;
They had fed, they had flown, and all seemed so wonderful.
Then came along Hansel, and he too seemed quite content,
That all creation smiled and more, laughed, and did so as it did.

In the collection of Goethe's works which I have in my library, the text is formally titled "Schweizerlied" with the notation, "Volkslied-Umdichtung," or a folk song reworked. What of this text is original and what is Goethe's interpretation made in 1811, I leave to other scholar. The text is a form of reminiscence, and has been set to music a number of times, and in at least one English translation. A melody for it was published in the Schauenberg Allgemeine Deutsches Kommersbuch, composed by Carl Blum, circa 1821. [ 1 ] I have taken Goethe's text and Blum's melody, and made a simple two part accompaniment.

The first two strophes place the running sixteenth notes in the left hand, as the right reinforces the melody line. In the second two strophes the running sixteenths become the right hand pattern, with a bass line interpolated below.

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 piano-vocal score.

NOTES

[ 1 ] Berliner Carl Wilhelm August Blum (1786-1844) was a German singer and actor, stage director, librettist and composer. He was a student of Friedrich Adam Hiller and later of Antonio Salieri and became the composer in residence for the Königlichen Hofoper in Berlin, for which he is credited with more than 70 works for that stage. The Kommersbuch is a collection of various songs, single line melodies with texts printed, hymnbook fashion beneath, though such an anthology was far from a hymnal for the inclusion of many drinking songs and humor.