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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title> Introduction | LiederNet </title>  <meta name="google-site-verification" content="1X0R00VYafsido-bovKUJjyCu4rra_W_9elarBiO8H8" /> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta name="identifier-url" content="https://www.lieder.net/"> <meta name="copyright" content="漏 The LiederNet Archive"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <link id="favicon" rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon/favicon.ico?v=2" type="image/x-icon"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="favicon/favicon-32x32.png?v=2"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="favicon/favicon-16x16.png?v=2"> <meta name="theme-color" content="#284358"> <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style" content="black-translucent"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="favicon/apple-touch-icon.png?v=2"> <link rel="manifest" href="favicon/site.webmanifest?v=2"> <link rel="mask-icon" href="favicon/safari-pinned-tab.svg?v=2" color="#3b6f96"> <meta name="description" content="Texts and Translations to Lieder and other classical vocal works in more than a hundred languages"> <meta name="keywords" content="Lieder, translation, lyrics, art song, poetry, vocal text, kunstlieder, uebersetzungen, gedichte, melodie, traductions, Liederen, canzoni, laulua, piosenki, pisne, letra, cancoe"> <meta name="robots" content="index,follow"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="ie=edge"> <style type="text/css"> @media print { main { display:none; 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function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'UA-34594381-1'); gtag('config', 'G-TZQ9RWX000'); </script>    </head> <body onLoad=sf() > <div class="loader"></div>  <div id="fundraiser" class="fundraise-banner"> <div style="padding:0.5rem;margin:auto; max-width:52em;text-align:center;"><h3 class="fancy-headline">New Feature Alert</h3> <p style="padding-bottom:0.5em; text-wrap:balance;"><br><strong>It鈥檚 now easier than ever to see both the author's and the composer's versions of a text!</strong><br><br> After more than a year in development, I'm thrilled to announce that we've finally implemented the ability to view "<a href="/lieder/about_sung_texts.html">sung texts</a>" with all the modifications by a given composer already applied. Over 10,000 pages will benefit from this improvement. It should especially benefit those of you who need accurate texts for concert programs and CD booklets. </p> <p style="padding-bottom:0.5em; text-wrap:balance;">I'm excited to share this new feature with all of you and hope that it enhances your experience on the LiederNet Archive. Take some time to explore and enjoy! <span style="font-style:italic">— Emily</span> </p> <span class="close-warning" style="border-color:#c0abab; color:#a78989; font-size: 1.25em; padding-bottom: 3px;" title="Dismiss for 10 days" onclick="dismiss()">×</span> </div> </div> <script> function dismiss() { createCookie('new_feature_dismissed','Y','10'); hasDismissed(); } function hasDismissed() { var dismissed = readCookie('new_feature_dismissed'); if (dismissed === 'Y') { var fundraiser = document.getElementById('fundraiser'); void fundraiser.offsetWidth; fundraiser.classList.add('hidden'); } } document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', hasDismissed); </script>     <header role="banner" class="site-header"> <div class="banner"> <div class="banner-background"></div> <div class="logo-box"> <a class="logo-home" href="/lieder/"> <object aria-label="LiederNet Archive logo" class="logo-large" type="image/svg+xml" data="/../images/LN_logo_colour.svg">LiederNet logo</object> </a> </div>  </div> </header>   <main id="main" class="main">  <div class="info-bar"> <span class="menu-toggle" id="menu-toggle" onclick="toggleMenu()"> <span class="arrow-container"> <svg height="19" width="19"> <polygon id="menu-toggle-arrow" class="menu-arrow" points="4,3 4,19 19,11" /> </svg> </span> <span id="menu-toggle-text" class="menu-toggle-text"></span> </span> <span class="user-info"> </span> </div>   <div class="nav-and-content">  <nav class="left-nav nav-hidden" id="left-nav"><p class="nav-title">CONTENTS</p> <span class="mobile-menu-close" onclick="toggleMenu()">×</span> <ul> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/">Home</a> | <a href="/lieder/intro.html">Introduction</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/cindex.html">Composers (19,754)</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/pindex.html">Text Authors (18,988)</a></li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/lieder/random.html?12458">Go to a Random Text</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/new.html">What’s New</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/tour.html">A Small Tour</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/faq.html">FAQ & Links</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/donors.html">Donors</a></li> </ul> <ul><li class="nav-item donate-page-btn"><a href="/lieder/donate.html">DONATE</a></li></ul> <p class="nav-title">UTILITIES</p> <ul> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/search.html">Search Everything</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/quick_find.html">Search by Surname</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/find_titles_and_first_lines.html">Search by Title or First Line</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/find_settings_by_date.html">Search by Year</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/find_text_compilations.html">Search by Collection</a></li>  </ul> <p class="nav-title">CREDITS</p> <ul> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/emily_ezust.html">Emily Ezust</a></li>  <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/contrib.html">Contributors (1,107)</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/contact.html">Contact Information</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/biblio.html">Bibliography</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><hr aria-label="separator"></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/copyright.html">Copyright Statement</a></li> <li class="nav-item"><a href="/lieder/privacy_policy.html">Privacy Policy</a></li> <li class="nav-item"></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: center; margin: 0.5rem;"> <a class="fb-link" href="https://www.facebook.com/TheLiedArtSongAndChoralTextsArchive">Follow us on Facebook</a> </p> </nav>   <section id="content" class="content"> <div class="prose"> <h2>Introduction</h2> <p><b><a href="./">This website</a></b> houses an extensive, growing archive of texts to <b>206,695</b> settings of Lieder and other art songs (Kunstlieder, mélodies, canzoni, романсы, canciones, liederen, canções, sånger, laulua, písně, piosenki, etc.) and other vocal pieces such as choral works, madrigals, and part-songs, in <b>125</b> languages, with <b>43,933</b> translations to Catalan, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and many other languages. <b>34,332</b> of these translations come from our <a href="contrib.html">wonderful and devoted volunteers</a>. </p> <p> Here is a <a href="/lieder/tour.html">Small Tour</a>. </p> <p> At last count, <b>126,155</b> texts are associated with musical settings in this collection. Of these, <b>53,073</b> are empty because they have not yet been located, and are left as placeholders for cross-referencing ; and <b>4,727</b> exist in the database but are hidden due to copyright restrictions, leaving <b>69,006</b> visible to visitors. Whenever possible, first lines (incipits) are shown for texts that are hidden or missing. </p> <p> Emily Ezust first opened the Archive on May 24, 1995 as a personal project hosted in a student account at McGill University (Canada), and titled it "The Lied and Song Text Page", which later expanded to "The Lied, Art Song, and Choral Texts Archive". It was generously hosted by the REC Music Foundation from 1996 until June, 2015. </p> <p> New material is added almost every day. Please see the <a href="new.html">What's New</a> page for details. Volunteer submissions are welcome, especially translations. Please <a href="contact.html">let us know</a> if you would like to become a guest editor. </p> <h3><b>About the Collection</b></h3> <ul> <li><b>Scope and Goal of the Project.</b><p>The primary goal of this project is to collect and present the texts to art songs, partsongs, madrigals, and choral works that are based on stand-alone poems.</p><p>The secondary goal of this project is to provide visitors with high-quality translations of the texts into as many languages as possible, and in several styles. </p></li> <li><b><a href="faq.html">FAQ</a></b>. Frequently Asked Questions</li> <li><b><a href="copyright.html">Copyright Notice</a></b>. Disclaimers, etc. This applies to the entire site and contains important information for people who wish to use the data here.</li> <li><b>Sung Texts</b>. If you access a text page from a composer page, you may see something quite different from what the text author wrote or published. Read more about sung texts <a href="/lieder/about_sung_texts.html">here</a>.</li> <li><b>Alphabetization</b>. Throughout these pages, alphabetization will follow North American English convention, even in transliterated indexes.</li> <li><b>Titles of song texts</b>. Unless all the composers who set a given text use the title chosen by the author, the headline at the top of a text will be the first line, in italics. If you are viewing a sung text, its title will appear at the top instead.</li> <li><b>History</b>. What did we look like in earlier years? Take a look with the Way Back Machine at the Internet Archive!<br> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19970102192939/http://www.recmusic.org:80/lieder/" target="_blank">1997</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19980530164617/http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/" target="_blank">1998</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20000815081456/http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/" target="_blank">2000</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030403194613/http://209.16.199.17/lieder/" target="_blank">2003</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080511003819/http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/" target="_blank">2008</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150622044204/http://www.lieder.net/lieder/" target="_blank">2015</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180527213608/www.lieder.net/lieder/" target="_blank">2018</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190529045738/http://www.lieder.net/lieder/" target="_blank">2019</a> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200604105211/https://www.lieder.net/lieder/" target="_blank">2020</a> </ul> <li><b>An important note about the texts</b>. Some texts may contain offensive language or negative cultural or gender stereotypes. Such texts should be regarded in the context of the time period they were written as a reflection of common attitudes of the time or of characters within the text's narrative. Because these texts are part of the historical record, we include them on this website and reserve the right to redact them; however, vocal works that use such texts should not be performed without an explanation of their historical contexts.</p> </ul> <h3><b>About the Translations</b></h3> <ul> <li><b>Language of translations</b>. The language of a translation of a text is identified by a three-letter language-code like <strong class="tr">ENG</strong>, <strong class="textless_tr">&hairsp;FRE&hairsp;</strong>, or <strong class="singable_tr">SPA</strong>. A list of these codes can be found <a href="languages.html">here</a>. <ul><li>A rectangle like <strong class="tr">&hairsp;ENG&hairsp;</strong> indicates an English translation is available that is close-to-literal and uses the style commonly found in concert programmes or CD booklets.</li><li>A rectangle like <strong class="textless_tr">&hairsp;FRE&hairsp;</strong> indicates a French translation exists but is missing. This means that a composer set a specific translation to music, but we do not yet have the text in the database.</li><li>A rectangle like <strong class="singable_tr">&hairsp;SPA&hairsp;</strong> indicates a singable Spanish translation is available, or a translation that will fit the music when sung.</li></ul> </li> <li><b>Translation style</b>. Many of the translations are close to literal and meant primarily as an aid for understanding the original language. Others attempt to capture some of the original's rhythm or rhyme; and still others are singable translations. Since different types of translations are useful in different situations and a second opinion is often quite useful, we are always happy to offer more than one translation to the same language.</li> <li><b>Translation copyrights</b>. If you wish to reprint a copyright-protected translation for any reason, you must obtain permission first. Please read the instructions below the translation.</li> <li><b>Giving proper credit to authors</b>. Once you have permission, you <b>must</b> always give proper credit when copying and distributing copyright-protected material. This means including the copyright symbol © beside the name of the author / translator. Here is an example: <p style="font-family: 'Noto Serif', Verdana, serif"><span>Translation copyright</span> <span style="display: inline-block">© by Jane Doe,</span> <span>reprinted with permission from The LiederNet Archive</span></p></li> </ul> <hr> </div> </section>  </div>  </main>   <aside id="after-the-content"> <div id="donations-card" class="donations-card"> <div class="donations-title">Gentle Reminder</div> <p> This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!<br> –Emily Ezust, Founder</p> <div style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto"> <a class="donate-page-btn" href="/lieder/donate.html">Donate</a> </div> </div> <script> function showSometimes() { var rnd = Math.random(); if (rnd < .2) { document.getElementById('donations-card').style.display='block'; } } document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', showSometimes); </script> <br> </aside>  <div id="cookie-notice" class="cookie-notice"> <p class="cookie-msg">We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our <a href="/lieder/privacy_policy.html">Privacy Policy</a>. 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