by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
Translation by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876)
John Anderson, my jo, John
Language: Scottish (Scots)
Our translations: FRE
John Anderson, my jo, John, When we were first acquent, Your locks were like the raven, Your bonie brow was brent; But now your brow is beld, John, Your locks are like the snaw; But blessings on your frosty pow, John Anderson, my jo! John Anderson, my jo, John, We clamb the hill thegither, And mony a cantie day, John, We've had wi' ane anither: Now we maun totter down, John, But hand in hand we'll go, And sleep thegither at the foot, John Anderson, my jo!
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, Cambridge edition, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1897, page 223.
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "John Anderson, my jo" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by David Arditti (b. 1964), "John Anderson", op. 1 no. 8, first performed 1994, from Burns Songs, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "John Anderson, my jo", JHW. XXXII/5 no. 390, Hob. XXXIa no. 2bis [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "John Anderson", JHW. XXXII/1 no. 2, Hob. XXXIa no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910 - 1998), "John Anderson, my jo" [ voice and piano ], from Five Burns Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henry Hugo Pierson (1816 - 1873), "John Anderson", published 1842 [ voice and piano ], from 6 Lieder von Freiligrath nach R. Burns, no. 4, Leipzig, Kistner, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906 - 1975), "When we were first acquent", 1943, first performed 1944 [ voice(s) and orchestra ], from Eight British and American Folk Songs, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "John Anderson, My Jo", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], London: G. Ricordi & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876) , "John Anderson" ; composed by John Böie, Martin Jacobi, Heinrich August Marschner, Fredrik Pacius, Henry Hugo Pierson, as Henry Hugo Pearson, Karl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke, Nicolai von Wilm.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Christoph Leonhard Gerhard (1780 - 1858) , "John Anderson" ; composed by Adolf Jensen, Theobald Kretschmann, Henry Hugo Pierson, Heinrich Schmidt, Robert Schumann.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Paul Hermann Franz Graener.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by August Bungert.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Samuil Yakovlevich Marschak (1887 - 1964) ; composed by Georgiy Vasil'yevich Sviridov.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Josef Václav Sládek) , "Jan Andersen"
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Valter Juva) , "John Anderson"
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "John Anderson, mon chéri", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (József Lévay) , "John Anderson"
- POL Polish (Polski) (Jan Kasprowicz) , "Dżon Anderson, ty mój!", Warsaw, first published 1907
- RUS Russian (Русский) (Mikhail Larionovich Mikhailov) , no title, first published 1856
Researcher for this page: Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 87
John Anderson, mein Lieb, John
Language: German (Deutsch) after the Scottish (Scots)
John Anderson, mein Lieb, John, Als ich zuerst dich sah, Wie dunkel war dein Haar, und Wie glatt dein Antlitz da! Doch jetzt ist kahl dein Haupt, John, Schneeweiß dein Haar und trüb' Dein Aug', doch Heil und Segen dir, John Anderson, mein Lieb. John Anderson, mein Lieb, John, Bergauf stiegst du mit mir: Und manchen lust'gen Tag, John, Zusammen hatten wir: Nun gehts der Berg hinab, John, Doch Hand in Hand! Komm gib Sie mir! In einem Grab' ruh'n wir, John Anderson, mein Lieb!
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Gedichte von Ferdinand Freiligrath, 7. Aufl., Stuttgart und Tübingen, 1844.
Text Authorship:
- by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876), "John Anderson" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Scottish (Scots) by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), "John Anderson, my jo"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Böie (1822 - 1900), "John Anderson", op. 4 (Sechs Lieder) no. 4, published 1846 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Böhme [sung text not yet checked]
- by Martin Jacobi (1864 - 1919), "John Anderson", op. 12 ([Zwei] [Vier] [Fünf] Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1893 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Paez; published as Zwei Lieder... [sung text not yet checked]
- by Heinrich August Marschner (1795 - 1861), "John Anderson, mein Lieb ", op. 103 ([Sieben] Lieder nach Rob. Burns von F. Freiligrath für Sopran oder Tenor) no. 5, published 1838 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Mainz, Schott [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Fredrik Pacius (1809 - 1891), "John Anderson" [ alto and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Henry Hugo Pierson (1816 - 1873), as Henry Hugo Pearson, "John Anderson, mein Lieb", published 1842 [ voice and piano ], from 6 Lieder von Freiligrath nach R. Burns, no. 4, Leipzig, Kistner, also set in Scottish (Scots) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Karl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (1824 - 1910), "John Anderson, mein Lieb", op. 10 (Sechs Lieder) no. 1 (1846) [ voice and piano ], note: this may be the wrong translation for this setting [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Peter) Nicolai von Wilm (1834 - 1911), "John Anderson", op. 120 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1894 [ voice and piano ], Magdeburg, Wernthal [sung text not yet checked]
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2003-12-02
Line count: 16
Word count: 85