Hans Bethge (9 January 1876 – 1 February 1946) was a German poet whose reputation abroad rests above all on the versions of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

poetry set in Mahler's ''

Das Lied von der Erde ''Das Lied von der Erde'' ("The Song of the Earth") is an orchestral song cycle for two voices and orchestra written by Gustav Mahler between 1908 and 1909. Described as a symphony when published, it comprises six songs for two singers who alte ...

''. The

Max Eyth Max Eyth (; 6 May 1836 – 25 August 1906) was a German engineer and writer. The house where he was born is now a literature museum (2010). He was born in Kirchheim unter Teck to Edward Eyth (1809–1884), a teacher of Greek and history ...

House in

Kirchheim unter Teck Kirchheim unter Teck (Swabian: ''Kircha'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the district of Esslingen. It is located on the small river Lauter, a tributary of the Neckar. It is 10 km (6 miles) near the Teck castle, approximately ...

houses a permanent exhibit of Hans Bethge's books, photographs and other artifacts, while his manuscripts are preserved at the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach. Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach
/ref>

Life

Hans Bethge was born in 1876 in Dessau. He studied modern languages and philosophy at the universities of Halle,

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 116,062 inhab ...

and

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

. After graduation, he spent two years as a teacher in Spain. In 1901, he set himself up as a freelance writer in Berlin. In 1943, at the height of the air campaign, he moved to the Swabian countryside where he spent his last years. Hans Bethge treasured friendships as well as all that was beautiful; many writers and artists were his friends, including the poet Prince Emil von Schoenaich-Carolath, the painters Willi Geiger and

Karl Hofer Karl Christian Ludwig Hofer or ''Carl Hofer'' (11 October 1878, Karlsruhe – 3 April 1955, Berlin) was a German expressionist painter. He was director of the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts. One of the most prominent painters of expressioni ...

, and the art historian Julius Meier-Gräfe, as well as other artists from the

Worpswede Worpswede (Northern Low Saxon: ''Worpsweed'') is a municipality in the district of Osterholz, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Teufelsmoor, northeast of Bremen. The small town itself is located near the Weyerberg hill. It has be ...

artist colony An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior existence o ...

. The ''

Jugendstil ''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...

'' painter

Heinrich Vogeler Heinrich Vogeler (December 12, 1872 – June 14, 1942) was a German painter, designer, and architect, associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Early life He was born in Bremen, and studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 1 ...

illustrated three of his books, and the sculptor

Wilhelm Lehmbruck Wilhelm Lehmbruck (4 January 188125 March 1919) was a German sculptor. Biography Born in Meiderich (part of Duisburg from 1905), he was the fourth of eight children born to the miner Wilhelm Lehmbruck and his wife Margaretha. He was able to stu ...

, whose genius Bethge had recognized early on, made several portraits of him. He died in

Göppingen Göppingen (Swabian: ''Geppenge'' or ''Gebbenga'') is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the bi ...

in 1946, aged 70; he was buried in

Artistic achievement

Bethge published several volumes of poems (chiefly on love and nature), diaries, travelogues,

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

s and

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

. He had great success as an editor of modern poetry, German and foreign. But above all, his poetic translations of oriental classics (starting in 1907) gained him wide recognition, in spite of their reliance on previous translators. The first such book, "The Chinese Flute", had a printing of 100,000 copies. Gustav Mahler used six of its poems in ''

''. The fresh, musical rhythm of Bethge's language and his free versification inspired settings by more than 180 other composers, among them Richard Strauss, Karol Szymanowski, Arnold Schoenberg,

Anton Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stead ...

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...

Anna Teichmüller Anna Teichmüller (11 May 1861 – 6 September 1940) was a German composer and teacher who set the works of many poets, especially Carl Hauptmann, to music. She composed most of her works at the Schreiberhau artist colony. Teichmüller was born i ...

Viktor Ullmann Viktor Ullmann (1 January 1898, in Teschen – 18 October 1944, in KZ Auschwitz-Birkenau) was a Silesia-born Austrian composer, conductor and pianist. Biography Viktor Ullmann was born on 1 January 1898 in Těšín (Teschen), which belonged ...

Gottfried von Einem Gottfried von Einem (24 January 1918 – 12 July 1996) was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ. Biog ...

Ernst Krenek Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer of Czech origin. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study ...

Artur Immisch Artur Immisch (born 24 November 1902 – 9 January 1949) was a German pianist, and composer. His musical legacy has only been gradually reconstructed since 1990. Life Immisch was born in 1902 in Hermsdorf, then Saxe-Altenburg, as the son of a w ...

, Ludvig Irgens-Jensen

Paul Graener Paul Graener (11 January 1872 – 13 November 1944) was a German composer and conductor. He composed numerous operas and orchestral works in the Romanticism style. Biography Graener was born in Berlin and orphaned as a young child. A boy ...

, Bohuslav Martinů,

Ernst Toch Ernst Toch (; 7 December 1887 – 1 October 1964) was an Austrian composer of classical music and film scores. He sought throughout his life to introduce new approaches to music. Biography Toch was born in Leopoldstadt, Vienna, into the family ...

Fartein Valen Olav Fartein Valen (25 August 1887 – 14 December 1952) was a Norwegian composer, notable for his work in atonal polyphonic music. He developed a polyphony similar to Bach's counterpoint, but based on motivic working and dissonance rather ...

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', ' ...

and

Egon Wellesz Egon Joseph Wellesz CBE (21 October 1885 – 9 November 1974) was an Austrian, later British composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the field of Byzantine music. Early life and education in Vienna Egon Joseph Wellesz was ...

Works

* ''Die stillen Inseln'' * ''Der gelbe Kater'' * ''Deutsche Lyrik seit Liliencron (Anthologie)'' * ''Die Lyrik des Auslandes in neuerer Zeit (Anthologie)'' * ''Lieder des Orients (Nachdichtungen)'' * ''Die chinesische Flöte. Nachdichtungen chinesischer Lyrik''. * ''Pfirsichblüten aus China. Nachdichtungen chinesischer Lyrik''. * ''Ägyptische Reise'' (Egyptian Journey) * ''Die armenische Nachtigall. Nachdichtungen des Nahabet Kuchak und anderer armenischer Dichter''. * ''Das türkische Liederbuch. Nachdichtungen türkischer Lyrik''. * ''Japanischer Frühling. Nachdichtungen japanischer Lyrik''. * ''

Hafez Khwāje Shams-od-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī ( fa, خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمّد حافظ شیرازی), known by his pen name Hafez (, ''Ḥāfeẓ'', 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper'; 1325–1390) and as "Hafiz", ...

- Die Lieder und Gesänge in Nachdichtungen''. * ''

Omar Khayyam Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīsābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131), commonly known as Omar Khayyam ( fa, عمر خیّام), was a polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, an ...

- Die Nachdichtungen seiner Rubai'yat''. * '' Sadi der Weise. Die Verse des persischen Dichters in Nachdichtungen''. * ''Der persische Rosengarten. Nachdichtungen persischer Lyrik''. * ''Die indische Harfe. Nachdichtungen indischer Lyrik. Nachdichtungen orientalischer Lyrik''. * ''Arabische Nächte. Nachdichtungen arabischer Lyrik''. * ''Der asiatische Liebestempel. Nachdichtungen der Liebeslieder der Völker Mittelasiens''. * ''Die Courtisane Jamaica (Novellen)'' (Karlsruhe, Dreililien-Verlag, 1911, 1. Ausgabe 157 S., Deckelillustration v. Karl Walser, 1000 Ex.) (Davon auch eine Vorzugsausgabe in Ganzpergament mit Kopfgoldschnitt in Kassette mit farbigen montierten Deckelillustrationen v. Karl Walser, nummeriert 15 Ex. auf van Geldern Bütten) (erschien Berlin, Gyldendalscher Verlag, 1922. 2. - 4. Tausend, bei Morawe & Scheffelt und Universitas Deutsche Verlags AG Berlin

References

Sources

* Eberhard Gilbert Bethge: ''Hans Bethge. Leben und Werk. Eine Biographie.'' 3., erw. u. bebild. Auflage. YinYang Media, Kelkheim 2002, * Bernd Löffler: ''Hans Bethge in Kirchheim unter Teck.'' In ''Marbacher Spuren.'' Issue 12, Marbach 1991

External links

* * * *
New editions of translations published by YinYang-VerlagLiterarisches Museum im Max-Eyth-Haus, Kirchheim unter Teck
* ttp://www.yinyang-verlag.de/Bethge-Lehmbruck.gif Portrait of Hans Bethge {{DEFAULTSORT:Bethge, Hans 1876 births 1946 deaths People from Dessau-Roßlau People from the Duchy of Anhalt Writers from Saxony-Anhalt Translators to German German male poets