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Bilingual Bedtime/German songs
WiegenliedLullaby

Wer hat die schönsten Schäfchen.

The melody of Wer hat die schönsten Schäfchen on a staff, as engraved in the book
Download the tune

The melody as written on the staff, so you can learn the tune before you sing.

Verse 1

  1. Wer hat die schönsten Schäfchen?vair haht dee shern-stuhn shehf-khuhn?Who has the loveliest little sheep?
  2. Die hat der goldne Mond,dee haht dair gold-nuh mohnt,The golden moon has them,
  3. Der hinter unsern Bäumendair hin-ter oon-zern boy-muhnWho behind our trees
  4. Am Himmel drüben wohnt.ahm him-muhl drew-buhn vohnt.Lives over there in the sky.

Verse 2

  1. Er kommt am späten Abend,air komt ahm shpeh-tuhn ah-buhnt,He comes in the late evening,
  2. Wenn alles schlafen will,vehn ahl-luhs shlah-fuhn vil,When everything wants to sleep,
  3. Hervor aus seinem Hausehehr-fohr ows zai-nuhm how-zuhOut of his house
  4. Zum Himmel leis' und still.tsoom him-muhl lais oont shtil.Up to the sky, soft and quiet.

Verse 3

  1. Dann weidet er die Schäfchendahn vai-duht air dee shehf-khuhnThen he pastures the little sheep
  2. Auf seiner blauen Flur;owf zai-ner blow-uhn floor;On his blue meadow;
  3. Denn all die weißen Sternedehn ahl dee vai-suhn shtehr-nuhFor all the white stars
  4. Sind seine Schäfchen nur.zint zai-nuh shehf-khuhn noor.Are only his little sheep.

Verse 4

  1. Sie tun sich nichts zu Leide,zee toon zikh nikhts tsoo lai-duh,They do each other no harm,
  2. Hat eins das andre gern,haht ains dahs ahn-druh gehrn,Each one is fond of the other,
  3. Und Schwestern sind und Brüderoont shvehs-tern zint oont brew-derAnd they are sisters and brothers
  4. Da droben Stern an Stern.dah droh-buhn shtehrn ahn shtehrn.Up there, star beside star.

Verse 5

  1. Wenn ich gen Himmel schaue,vehn ikh gayn him-muhl show-uh,When I look up at the sky,
  2. So fällt mir immer ein:zoh fehlt meer im-mer ain:It always occurs to me:
  3. O lasst uns auch so freundlichoh lahst oons owkh zoh froynt-likhOh let us also be as kind
  4. Wie diese Schäfchen sein!vee dee-zuh shehf-khuhn zain!As these little sheep!

About this song

Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote this in 1830 and it has put children to bed ever since: the moon is a shepherd and the white stars are his Schäfchen, his little sheep. The tune is older than the words, Reichardt's of 1790, not the setting his own songbook prints. Sing it slowly, one sway to the bar.

Where it comes from

The words: Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Fünfzig Kinderlieder, Nach Original- und bekannten Weisen mit Clavierbegleitung von Ernst Richter (Haendcke und Lehmkuhl, Hamburg, 1884), Nr. 23 Das Lied vom Monde, S. 27.

The tune: The source print does not carry this tune: the 1884 Fünfzig Kinderlieder sets Nr. 23 to Carl von Winterfeld's 1831 music, headed Musik von K. v. Winterfeld. The tune families sing is Johann Friedrich Reichardt's of 1790, written for Caroline Rudolphi's In stillem, heitern Glanze, so the reference is the score block in the Vertonungen section of the de.wikipedia article Wer hat die schönsten Schäfchen: F major, 4/4, a quarter-note pickup, eight bars. F major lies inside the book's C-to-G range, so the key is kept; range F4 to D5. Cross-checked note for note against a public-domain engraving of Reichardt's setting, agreeing on all 26 notes: Victorie Gervinus, Naturgemässe Ausbildung in Gesang und Klavierspiel (Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1892), Nr. 43 Der Mond, S. 177, credited in that book's contents to J. F. Reichardt 1790, read as the top note of each four-part chord against staff lines measured under each note because the scan is skewed. The one difference is bar 4, where Gervinus holds the word on a repeated G4 under a slur and Wikipedia rests; the rest is printed here

From the book

Bilingual Bedtime

Thirty-Seven German Songs for Children

Buy paperbackBuy KindleBuy hardcoverAbout this edition
Leise rieselt der SchneeAll 37 songsWeißt du, wie viel Sternlein stehen
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