Když mne stará matka zpívat, zpívat...
Language: Czech (Čeština) after the Czech (Čeština)
Our translations: ENG ENG FIN FRE ITA ITA
Když mne stará matka zpívat, zpívat učívala,
podivno, že často, často slzívala.
A ted' také pláčem snědé líce mučim,
když cigánské děti hrát a zpívat učim!
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• A. Dvořák About the headline (FAQ)
Note: many singable translations rely on the repetition of "zpívat" in the first line. It was not present in the original text.
The text shown is a variant of another text. [ View differences ]
It is based on
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Karel Bendl (1838 - 1897), "Když mne stará matka", from Cigánské melodie, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Když mne stará matka zpívat, zpívat učívala", op. 55 no. 4, B. 104 no. 4 (1880), from Cigánské melodie, no. 4, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Natalie Macfarren (1826 - 1916) ; composed by Charles Edward Ives.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Adolf Heyduk (1835 - 1923) , no title ; composed by Antonín Dvořák.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Gayle Royko Heuser) (Anna Majtas Royko) , "When my old mother taught me to sing", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English [singable] (Thomas Heck) , "When my mother taught me to sing", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Marc Moreau) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Maria Rita De Matteis) , "Quando la mia vecchia madre ancora mi insegnava a cantare", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) [singable] (Thomas Heck) , "Quando mia vecchia madre", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2004-01-16
Line count: 4
Word count: 26
When my old mother taught me to sing
Language: English after the Czech (Čeština)
When my old mother taught me to sing,
Strange that she often had tears in her eyes.
And now I also weep,
when I teach Gypsy children to play and sing.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Czech (Čeština) to English copyright © 2004 by Gayle Royko Heuser and Anna Majtas Royko, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2004-03-22
Line count: 4
Word count: 31