Ligeti's Sippal, dobbal, nadihegedűvel text and translation
Posted on Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Needing poetic inspiration for a forthcoming project I turned to an old favourite - one of Ligeti's last works, the wonderfully surreal Sippal, dobbal, nadihegedűvel for mezzo soprano and four percussionists. Though I have a recording I couldn't find the programme book, so I did a bit of internet digging, and eventually deep in the bowels of the web, I found text and translation - reproduced here in the hope of making the same task easier for the next person.
Here's the entire piece:
| Sippal, dobbal, nadihegedűvel | With Pipes, Drums, Fiddles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I. Fabula Egy hegy megy. Szembjon a masik hegy. Orditanak ordasok: Ossze ne morzsoljatok! En is hegy, te is negy, nekunk ugyan egyremegy. | I. Fable A mountain walks. The others mountain comes toward it. The wolves howl: Do not crush us! I, am mountain, you, too, a mountain, we are indifferent to that. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
II. Tancdal | II. Dance Song [This text cannot be translated] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
III. Kinai Templom
| III. Chinese Temple
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
IV. Kuli Kuli bot vag Kuli megy megy csak guri-guri Riksa Auto Sarkanyszeker Kuli huz riksa. Kuli huz auto. Kuli huz sarkanyszeker. Csak guri-guri Kuli gyalog megy Kuli szakall feher. Kuli almos. Kuli ehes. Kuli oreg. Kuli babszem makszem kis gyerek ver kis Kuli nagy rossz emberek. Csak guri-guri Riksa Auto Sarkanyszeker Ki huz riksa? Ki huz auto? Ki huz sarkanyszeker? Ha Kuli meghal? Kuli meghal. Kuli neeem tud meghal! Kuli orok csak guri-guri | IV. Coolie Coolie stick cut. Coolie walk walk just rolling and rolling Rickshaw Car Dragon-coach Coolie pull rickshaw. Coolie pull car. Coolie pull dragon-coach. just rolling and rolling Coolie go on foot Coolie beard white. Coolie sleepy. Coolie hungry. Coolie old. Coolie bean-sized poppy-seed-crumb-sized little child Little coolie beat big bad people, and rolling and rolling Rickshaw Car Dragon-coach Who pull rickshaw? Who pull car? Who pull dragon-coach? If coolie die? Coolie die. Coolie can nooooot die! Coolie forever just rolling and rolling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
V. Alma Alma (Tizenkettedik Szimfonia) alma agon alma ring az agon alma ring a lombos agon ring a ring a barna agon ringva ringa-ringatozva inga hinta palinta alma alma elme alma alma almodj alszol? mozdulatlan lengedezve hűs szelben arnyban alom agon agak alma ringva ringa-ringatozva ingadozva imbolyogva itt egyhelyben elhajozik indiaba afrikaba holdvilagba almodj alma alszol? | V. Dream (Twelfth Symphony) An apple on the branch an apple swings on the branch an apple swings on the leafy branch swings-swings on the brown branch swinging rocking pendulum swing (hinta) palinta a dream of an apple the mind’s dream an apple dream dream? motionlessly swinging in the cool wind in the shadows dream on the branch dream of the branches swinging rocking swaying staying in this spot it casts off to India to Africa to the moonlight dream –apple, are you sleeping? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
VI. Keseredes (67. Magyar Etude) Szantottam, szantottam het tuzes sarkannyal, hej, vegig bevetettem csupa gyongviraggal. Szantottam, szantottam szep gyemant ekevel, hej, vegig bevetettem hullo konnyeimmel. Szaz nyilo rozsarol az erdon almodtam, hej, tobbet nem aludtam, felig ebren voltam. Hajnalban folkeltem, kakukszot szamoltam, hej, visznek eskuvőre kedves galambommal. | VI. Bitter-Sweet (67th Hungarian Etude) I plowed, I plowed with seven fiery dragons, Heigh-ho, I sowed nothing but lilies of the valley. I plowed, I plowed with a beautiful diamond plow, Heigh-ho, everywhere I sowed my tears. In the forest, I dreamed of a hundred blossoming roses, Heigh-ho, I slept no longer, was half awake, In the early morning I got up, counted the cuckoo calls, Heigh-ho, they are taking me to be wed to my sweetheart. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
VII. Szajko | VII. Parakeet [This text cannot be translated.] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Translation: c Sharon Krebs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENTS
Joel commenting on Ligeti's Sippal, dobbal, nadihegedűvel text and translation:
Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 00:14
Indeed you have made it easier for me... thanks! Great piece, great to see it live, with a translation.
Ravi commenting on Ligeti's Sippal, dobbal, nadihegedűvel text and translation:
Friday, August 9, 2019 at 02:44
Hi David,
Love your blog and youtube channel! Thank you!!
I just wanted to point out one little discrepancy in the translation. The poet Edwin Morgan, an authority on Weores, translates Kuli a little differently, in a way that I think makes a big difference to the spirit of the piece:
https://www.babelmatrix.org/works/hu/We%C3%B6res_S%C3%A1ndor-1913/Kuli/en/24373-Coolie
Caveat: I don't speak Hungarian. Also Ligeti, in his comments on the piece talks about "pent-up aggressiveness" of the Kuli which might favour the Krebs translation but, in my opinion would work with Morgan's as well.
Archive
2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
