Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
Wir genießen die himmlischen Freuden, Drum tun wir das Irdische meiden, Kein weltlich Getümmel Hört man nicht im Himmel! Lebt alles in sanftester Ruh'! Wir führen ein englisches Leben! Sind dennoch ganz lustig daneben! Wir tanzen und springen, Wir hüpfen und singen! Sankt Peter im Himmel sieht zu! Johannes das Lämmlein auslasset, Der Metzger Herodes drauf passet! Wir führen ein geduldig's, Unschuldig's, geduldig's, Ein liebliches Lämmlein zu Tod! Sankt Lucas den Ochsen tät schlachten Ohn' einig's Bedenken und Achten, Der Wein kost' kein Heller Im himmlischen Keller, Die Englein, die backen das Brot. Gut' Kräuter von allerhand Arten, Die wachsen im himmlischen Garten! Gut' Spargel, Fisolen Und was wir nur wollen! Ganze Schüsseln voll sind uns bereit! Gut Äpfel, gut' Birn' und gut' Trauben! Die Gärtner, die alles erlauben! Willst Rehbock, willst Hasen, Auf offener Straßen Sie laufen herbei! Sollt' ein Fasttag etwa kommen, Alle Fische gleich mit Freuden angeschwommen! Dort läuft schon Sankt Peter Mit Netz und mit Köder Zum himmlischen Weiher hinein. Sankt Martha die Köchin muß sein. Kein' Musik ist ja nicht auf Erden, Die uns'rer verglichen kann werden. Elftausend Jungfrauen Zu tanzen sich trauen! Sankt Ursula selbst dazu lacht! Cäcilia mit ihren Verwandten Sind treffliche Hofmusikanten! Die englischen Stimmen Ermuntern die Sinnen, Daß alles für Freuden erwacht.
Text Authorship:
- from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , appears in Des Knaben Wunderhorn [author's text not yet checked 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 Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911), "Das himmlische Leben", 1892 [ voice and piano ], from Lieder aus "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" (formerly "Humoresken"), no. 15 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911), "Das himmlische Leben", 1901 [ voice and orchestra ], from Symphony No. 4, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "La vida celestial", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The heavenly life", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "La vita celeste", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POR Portuguese (Português) (Napoleão Laureano de Andrade) , "A vida celestial", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 46
Word count: 211
We enjoy the heavenly pleasures and avoid the earthly things. No worldly tumult does one hear in Heaven! Everything lives in the gentlest peace! We lead an angelic life! Nevertheless we are very merry: we dance and leap, hop and sing! Meanwhile, Saint Peter in the sky looks on. Saint John has let his little lamb go to the butcher Herod. We lead a patient, innocent, patient, a dear little lamb to death! Saint Luke slaughters oxen without giving it thought or attention. Wine costs not a penny in Heaven's cellar; and angels bake the bread. Good vegetables of all sorts grow in Heaven's garden! Good asparagus, beans and whatever we wish! Full bowls are ready for us! Good apples, good pears and good grapes! The gardener permits us everything! Would you like roebuck, would you like hare? In the very streets they run by! Should a fast-day arrive, all the fish swim up to us with joy! Over there, Saint Peter is running already with his net and bait to the heavenly pond. Saint Martha must be the cook! No music on earth can be compared to ours. Eleven thousand maidens dare to dance! Even Saint Ursula herself is laughing! Cecilia and all her relatives are splendid court musicians! The angelic voices rouse the senses so that everything awakens with joy.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive -- https://www.lieder.net/For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , appears in Des Knaben Wunderhorn
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 46
Word count: 222