Talk:Befreit

A fact from Befreit appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 1 May 2016 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Richard Dehmel (pictured) said that "Befreit", the Lied setting of his poem by Richard Strauss, was "a little bit too soft compared to the text, but it appeals to most people"?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2016/May. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Befreit.

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Classical music: Compositions

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Translation

Perhaps we should express noticeably that the socalled translation is more to match the music than the content.

Example: "Du wirst nicht weinen. Leise, leise wirst du lächeln;" is "You will not weep. Softly, softly will you smile;"

Compare: "Oh do not weep, love! Tho’ I shall miss thee; bid me farewell"

No talk about missing and farewell in the text, for a long time into the poem, - just this little hint: "You will not weep." - stating a fact, not a plea. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:44, 28 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I think it needs to be made quite clear that this is a singing translation, not a literal or poetic one, and in many places does not reflect the actual meaning of the words. Otherwise, people who don't understand German will take it as an accurate translation. Or the translation could be removed, because it doesn't accurately reflect the original German, and a prose summation of the poetry be made. BlueMoonset (talk) 20:43, 28 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Could you do that, please? "Singing translation" isn't a term I would have known, I am a bit uneasy about using it. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:51, 28 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

BlueMoonset (talk) and Gerda Arendt (talk), "Singable translation" is the technical term I believe: The making of singable translations of songs is a complex task, chiefly because the target text must be compatible with the pre‐existing music. ^[1].I think we can add some explanation of how the Bernhoff English departs form the Dehmel German (as in the Gerda Arendt example). I think that the John Bernhoff lyrics should not be deleted: he was the translator of many of the Strauss songs in the Universal Edition and here in the Forberg. In a sense they are the "official" singable translations and a historical landmark in themselves (although nowadays they seem a bit of their time). We can add some examples of a more accurate translation (perhaps quoting a couple of lines from the Jefferson I originally put up)? I can do this, but if someone else wishes to do it i am also happy (working on other things now).Byronmercury (talk) 15:20, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Go ahead, do it, - it's now that people are looking! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:23, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Peter Low (2003), Singable translations of songs, Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2003, pages 87-103,DOI:10.1080/0907676X.2003.9961466

[1] Peter Low (2003), Singable translations of songs, Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2003, pages 87-103,DOI:10.1080/0907676X.2003.9961466

[1]