The song I am inquiring about is NOT the traditional German carol ?O
Christmas Tree? ("O Tannenbaum") that most Christians know, it is a
completely different melody and text that bears some similarity to the
well-known carol and shares the same name.
I know verse one of "O Tannenbaum" was written in 1812 by Haxthausen
and that the melody and at least the first verse of the text were
included in several songbooks during the 19th century. I need to know
if verses 2-3 were written sometime between 1925-1943. ?O Tannenbaum?
was included in several songbooks compiled during these years, but the
available books do not date the text or give the author?s name.
(Walter Rein is indicated as the arranger of this song in several of
these books, but not the author of the text. This arrangement,
copyrighted in 1936 by Georg Kallmeyer in Wolfenbüttal, is the version
I am analyzing for my article.) This song/song text is sometimes also
called ?O Dannebom.? (O Dannebom was the name of the original 16th
century melody set by the author.) I have included the original German
text to this song below.
Can you tell me what year verses 2 and 3 of the text were written and
the author?s name? I also need to know what source you use to
determine the answer, so I can include it in my article. (I am not
looking for the song?s composer, but rather the author of the lyrics.)
O Tannenbaum/O Dannebom
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, du trägst ein? grünen Zweig, den Winter,
den Sommer, das dauert die liebe Zeit. ?Warum sollt? ich nicht
grünen, da ich noch grünen kann? ?Ich hab? nicht Mutter noch Vater,
der mich versorgen kann. Und der mich kann versorgen, das ist der
liebe Gott; der lässt mich wachsen und grünen, drum bin ich schlank
und gross.
Thanks for your help and happy hunting!! |
Request for Question Clarification by
scriptor-ga
on
29 Aug 2005 16:47 PDT
Not an answer yet, only a progress report so you know that your
question is being worked on:
At least the second verse has definitely NOT been written between 1925
and 1943. Already as early as 1806, it was published in Vol. 3 of "Des
Knaben Wunderhorn. Alte deutsche Lieder gesammelt von L. A. von Arnim
and Clemens Brentano" (published by Mohr und Zimmer, Heidelberg,
1806). Here is the second verse as it appeared in that collection of
old German songs:
Warum sollt ich nit grünen,
Da ich noch grünen kann?
Ich hab kein Vater, kein Mutter,
Der mich versorgen kann.
Source:
Projekt Gutenberg: Des Knaben Wunderhorn - Tannebaum
http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/arnim/wundhorn/whkl070b.htm
As for the third verse: I found hints that it has been recorded and
published by Ludwig Uhland in a collection of old folk songs in 1844.
I will have to see if I can find proof for this.
Scriptor
|
Request for Question Clarification by
scriptor-ga
on
30 Aug 2005 10:19 PDT
I did lots of offline research today, but the result is not
satisfying. I found confirmed that the second verse is traditional and
more than 200 years old, probably even dating from the 17th century or
earlier; it was part of versions of the song passed down orally in
Lower Silesia and the Odenwald region. And it was first published in
print in "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" as mentioned above.
But I could not find any trace of the origin of the third verse you
quote. Therefore, I must leave this question to my colleagues and hope
that they will find a complete answer.
Regards,
Scriptor
|
Clarification of Question by
danacgm-ga
on
05 Sep 2005 19:06 PDT
Scriptor,
Thank you so much for your efforts on this question. I would like to
include your findings in the footnotes of my article. Would you be
willing to send me your name so I can acknowledge you? In case you are
interested in my project, I can send you my web address as soon as I
post the abstract. Thank you so much for your work.
;0 danacgm
|
Request for Question Clarification by
scriptor-ga
on
05 Sep 2005 19:39 PDT
Dear danacgm,
Thank you very much. Unfortunately, we Google Answers Researchers are
strictly forbidden to reveal their real names to our customers. But
feel free to mention Google Answers.
And I'm indeed interested in your article. I'm curious to know what
project involves the origins of an old Christmas song (by the way,
during my research I also found out that the early versions of "O
Tannenbaum" from the 16th and 17th century did not refer to Christmas
at all - it was only much later that the meaning of the song evolved
in that direction).
It was my pleasure to help you!
All the best,
Scriptor
|
Clarification of Question by
danacgm-ga
on
06 Sep 2005 17:20 PDT
Scriptor,
Please go ahead and post your response to my question as an answer so
you can collect the money. You certainly earned it!
Thanks again!
Danacgm
|
Request for Question Clarification by
scriptor-ga
on
06 Sep 2005 17:37 PDT
Thank you! That is very generous. I will not post my answer
immerdiately; first I'll get to the library once more and take a note
about the title and author of the book I found the information in, so
you can include it in your sources.
All the best,
Scriptor
|
