Hunters' chorus
(Poet's title: Jägerchor)
Set by Schubert:
D 797/8
for SATB chorus and orchestra[December 1823]
Wie lebt sichs so fröhlich im Grünen,
Im Grünen bei fröhlicher Jagd,
Von sonnigen Strahlen durchschienen,
Wo reizend die Beute uns lacht.
Wir lauschen, und nicht ist’s vergebens,
Wir lauschen im duftenden Klee.
O sehet das Ziel unsres Strebens,
Ein schlankes, ein flüchtiges Reh.
Getroffen bald sinkt es vom Pfeile,
Doch Liebe verletzt, dass sie heile,
Nicht bebe, du schüchternes Reh,
Die Liebe gibt Wonne für Weh.
Life is so joyful in the green countryside,
In the green countryside at the joyful hunt,
With beams of the sun shining through,
Where our prey is teasing us.
We listen carefully, and it is not in vain,
We listen carefully in the fragrant clover.
Oh look at the goal of our striving,
A slender roedeer on the run!
Struck by an arrow it soon sinks down,
Yet love wounds in order to offer healing,
Do not tremble, bashful roedeer,
Love offers happiness in exchange for pain.
All translations into English that appear on this website, unless otherwise stated, are by Malcolm Wren. You are free to use them on condition that you acknowledge Malcolm Wren as the translator and schubertsong.uk as the source. Unless otherwise stated, the comments and essays that appear after the texts and translations are by Malcolm Wren and are © Copyright.
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Themes and images in this text:
Bows and arrows Clover Deer Green Hunters and hunting Wounds
Photograph: Carrot the Magic Deer and the Orange Heart Club
'He's the deer of the year': Carrot on way to recovery after arrow pulled from head • Whitetail deer made headlines last week for shocking injury • Carrot seen alive days after delicate operation to remove arrow Leyland Cecco in Toronto Mon 21 Dec 2020 20.15 GMT The last thing Carrot the deer probably wanted in 2020 was a hole in his head. But the Canadian whitetail deer which made headlines last week for his shocking injury no longer has an arrow impaling his head. “What he’s gone through in the last few weeks – from a bolt through his head to having it removed and enduring the bitter winter … I can’t imagine another animal surviving,” said Lee-Anne Carver, a wildlife photographer who has documented the deer’s unlikely story. After photographs of the injured deer went viral last week, conservation officers initially advised against removing the carbon fibre arrow, out of concern it could cause infection. But staff from Ontario’s ministry of natural resources and forestry decided that the risk of further injury meant they had to go ahead with the delicate procedure. An initial attempt on Wednesday failed after Carrot continued to move after being sedated, but on Thursday, wildlife officials tranquilized him again and began to extract the arrow. None of the team in the remote community of Kenora had ever undertaken such an operation, so a veterinarian 2,000km away in Ottawa gave detailed instructions over the telephone. The arrow was removed without any bleeding, and on Monday the ministry announced it was “cautiously optimistic” that Carrot would make a full recovery. But that outcome was not inevitable: tranquilizers can often provoke a fatal reaction in deer. After the arrow was removed, pus oozed from the wound and Carrot’s tongue turned blue. “He was really imperilled at [one] point,” said Carver. “I couldn’t report that he was going to be OK because the few times I’d seen him since he wasn’t looking good. “There was more of a likelihood that he would die than live after what he went through. There were no guarantees.” Carver’s lengthy Facebook updates on Carrot’s condition have been followed by thousands of people around the world. Many children have responded to her posts, she said, saying they want to become veterinarians or offering their savings to help the deer’s recovery. After recovering from sedation, Carrot was not seen for several days and Carver grew increasingly fearful. Early on Monday, she went out looking for him again, driving the snowy roads as the temperature neared -22C. Her heart sank as she spotted a tree with a dozen ravens – the sign an animal has died nearby. But after scouring the area in the bitter cold, she found no trace of Carrot. “I’d just given up hope. Maybe it was just too much for him.” Driving home at sunrise, however, she caught sight of deer by the side of the road and gave a shout of joy as Carrot trotted across the road to lick her hands. “I just can’t believe it. My heart is so filled with joy. He’s pulled so many of us through that maze of darkness and we’ve been made happy again,” she said. “He really truly is the deer of the year.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/21/carrot-deer-canada-ontario-arrow-injury-hea
Original Spelling Jägerchor Wie lebt sichs so fröhlich im Grünen, Im Grünen bei fröhlicher Jagd, Von sonnigen Strahlen durchschienen, Wo reizend die Beute uns lacht. Wir lauschen, und nicht ist's vergebens, Wir lauschen im duftenden Klee. O sehet das Ziel unsres Strebens, Ein schlankes, ein flüchtiges Reh! Getroffen bald sinkt es vom Pfeile, Doch Liebe verletzt, daß sie heile, Nicht bebe, du schüchternes Reh, Die Liebe gibt Wonne für Weh.
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Rosamunde. Drama in fünf Akten von Helmina von Chézy. Musik von Franz Schubert. Erstveröffentlichung der überarbeiteten Fassung. Mit einer Einleitung und unbekannten Quellen herausgegeben von Till Gerrit Waidelich. Verlegt bei Hans Schneider [Tutzing] 1996, p. 95.
Note: The libretto of Chézy’s initial version of her play, with the title Rosamunde, Fürstinn von Cypern, which was staged in 1823 in Vienna with Schubert’s music, is lost. This original version of the play comprises 4 acts. The manuscript of a revised version of Rosamunde in 5 acts has lately been discovered and published (see reference above). The Jägerchor set by Schubert appears in the beginning of act 2 in the revised version.