Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen (little snowflake, white little skirt) is a German

christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

. The original version comes from (1837–1901), who published the song in her first book in 1869.

Lyrics

Contemporary (German) version and its English translationSchneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen, wann kommst du geschneit? Du wohnst in den Wolken, dein Weg ist so weit. Komm setz dich ans Fenster, du lieblicher Stern, malst Blumen und Blätter, wir haben dich gern. Schneeflöckchen, du deckst uns die Blümelein zu, dann schlafen sie sicher in himmlischer Ruh’. Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen, komm zu uns ins Tal. Dann bau’n wir den Schneemann und werfen den Ball. Tiny Snowflake, little whitedress, when are you coming snowed? You live in the clouds your way is so far Come sit at the window you lovely star paint flowers and leaves, we like you. Tiny Snowflake, you cover us the flowers, then they sleep safely in heavenly peace. Tiny Snowflake, white little skirt, come to us in the valley. Then we'll build the snowman and throw the ball Compared to the original text, which consists of two stanzas, each with eight lines, the text is now usually reproduced in four four-line stanzas. Weißröckchen, a Silesian synonym for snowflake, does not appear in the original version of the text in the opening verse, only in the fourth to last line.

Melody

\relative c' \addlyrics According to the poet's will, the song should have been sung to the melody of the song "Wir Kinder, wir haben der Freuden so viel" (We children, we have so much of joy). The text of this song by

Christian Adolph Overbeck Christian Adolph Overbeck (21 August 1755 in Lübeck – 9 March 1821 in Lübeck) was a German poet, and the Burgomaster of Lübeck. Life Family Overbeck was the son of the lawyer, Georg Christian Overbeck (1713-1786) and his wife Eleonor ...

was first published in the ''

Musen-Almanach A ''Musen-Almanach'' ("Muses' Almanac") was a kind of literary annual, popular in Germany from 1770 into the mid-19th century. They were modelled on the '' Almanach des Muses'' published in Paris from 1765. Development in the 1770s The first exam ...

'' on the year 1777.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

set the revised text in 1791 as a song for voice and piano "Das Kinderspiel", KV 598. Another setting had been published by

Karl Christian Agthe Karl Christian Agthe (16 June 1762 – 27 November 1797) was a German organist and composer. Born in Hettstedt, Agthe served as court organist to Frederick Albrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg. Among his compositions are six ''Singspiele,'' a ball ...

in 1782. It cannot therefore be said with absolute certainty whether Hedwig Haberkern wanted Mozart's melody for her snowflake song. Since the two known settings are

art songs An art song is a Western world, Western vocal music Musical composition, composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical music, classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is ...

that are melodically and rhythmically more demanding than a simple children's song, it would also be conceivable that Hedwig Haberkern knew another, more folksong melody. The melody common today, the composer of which is not known, has been documented in song books since 1915. However, in the first half of the 20th century, the song was spread across several different melodies. So it was sung on the melody of "" as well as on compositions by

Johann André Johann André (28 March 1741 – 18 June 1799) was a German musician, composer and music publisher of the Classical period. He was born and died in Offenbach am Main. In 1774, as the patriarch of a Huguenot family, André founded one of the firs ...

and Kurt Schläger. At the latest after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the melody known today prevailed. Occasionally – but only in post-war songbooks – the source is mentioned, that the song was brought by German colonists from Russia or from

Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneeflockchen, Weissrockchen Christmas in Germany Christmas carols in German 1869 songs

Lyrics

Melody

See also

References