Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser

Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser ("God Save Emperor Franz") is an anthem to the Emperor Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire and (later) of Austria, written by Lorenz Leopold Haschka (1749-1827) and set to a tune written by Joseph Haydn in 1797. In English it is sometimes called the "Emperor's Hymn."

Table of contents

1 Words and music 2 History 3 Composition 4 Later uses of the tune 5 Full text 5.1 Burney's translation 6 See also 7 External link

Words and music

The sound file given below (played on a piano) uses the harmony Haydn employed for the string quartet version of his song, which he prepared later in the year 1797. to hear; ogg format, 156k.]] The German words can be translated approximately as follows: God save Francis the Emperor, our good Emperor Francis!
\nLong live Francis the Emperor in the brightest splendor of bliss!
\nMay laurel branches bloom for him, wherever he goes, as a wreath of honor.
\n(God save ...)''

History

The song was written at a time when Austria was seriously threatened by France and patriotic feeling was high. An Austrian aristocrat, Count Joseph Franz Saurau, had the idea of commissioning the anthem. Saurau later wrote:

"I had a text fashioned by the worthy poet Haschka; and to have it set to music, I turned to our immortal compatriot Haydn, who, I felt, was the only man capable of creating something that could be placed at the side of ... 'God Save the King'."

"Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" was first performed on the Emperor's birthday, February 12, 1797. It proved popular, and came to serve as the unofficial first national anthem of Austria.

Composition

Just as on many other occasions in his career, Haydn in composing "Gott erhalte" is believed to have mined his mental store of folk songss, which he learned in childhood and perhaps also in field work during adult life. The particular folk source of "Gott erhalte" appears to be Croatian in origin, and is known in Medjimurje and northern regions of Croatia under the name "Stal se jesem". The version below was collected by a field worker in the Croatian-speaking village of Schandorf-Cemba, in eastern Austria: to hear; ogg format, 41k.]] The English musicologist William H. Hadow, following the work of Franjo Kuhac, has discussed various versions of the tune, and describes how Haydn transformed and (in the opinion of many) exalted his source material. The tonic note in the high octave near the end, felt by Charles Rosen and others to be the climax of Haydn's melody, appears in none of the folk originals. Haydn's patriotism appears to have been unsophisticated and fully sincere. During his frail and sickly old age (1802-1809), Haydn often would struggle to the piano to play his song, often with great feeling, as a form of consolation in his long illness.

Later uses of the tune

Long after the composer's death, his melody was used as the tune of Fallersleben's Das Lied der Deutschen (1841), whose text begins "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles"; see the Wikipedia article just cited for full details concerning this setting. The tune has also been used as a hymn in English, to lyrics by John Newton which begin "Glorious things of thee are spoken/Zion, city of our God." 1, 2 There has also been uses of the tune in classical music.

• Shortly after finishing his melody, Haydn used it as the basis for the second movement (a theme and variations) of his famous string quartet opus 76 no. 3, the "Emperor" Quartet (1797). \n*Carl Czerny wrote a set of variations for piano and string quartet, his Opus 73. This link offers a sound illustration.\n*Tchaikovsky arranged the work for orchestra in 1876.

Full text

Haschka's poem contains many verses, reproduced below. For translations of the text into several of the languages that were spoken in the Austrian Empire, see Translations of Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser. Gott erhalte Franz, den Kaiser,
\nUnsern guten Kaiser Franz!
\nLange lebe Franz, der Kaiser,
\nIn des Glückes hellstem Glanz!
\nIhm erblühen Lorbeerreiser,
\nWo er geht, zum Ehrenkranz!
\n|: Gott erhalte Franz, den Kaiser,
\nUnsern guten Kaiser Franz! :| Laß von seiner Fahne Spitzen
\nStrahlen Sieg und Fruchtbarkeit!
\nLaß in seinem Rate Sitzen
\nWeisheit, Klugheit, Redlichkeit;
\nUnd mit Seiner Hoheit Blitzen
\nSchalten nur Gerechtigkeit!
\n|: Gott erhalte Franz, den Kaiser,
\nUnsern guten Kaiser Franz! :| Ströme deiner Gaben Fülle
\nÜber ihn, sein Haus und Reich!
\nBrich der Bosheit Macht, enthülle
\nJeden Schelm- und Bubenstreich!
\nDein Gesetz sei stets sein Wille,
\nDieser uns Gesetzen gleich.
\n|: Gott erhalte Franz, den Kaiser,
\nUnsern guten Kaiser Franz! :| Froh erleb' er seiner Lande,
\nSeiner Völker höchsten Flor!
\nSeh' sie, Eins durch Bruderbande,
\nRagen allen andern vor!
\nUnd vernehm' noch an dem Rande
\nSpäter Gruft der Endkel Chor.
\n|: Gott erhalte Franz, den Kaiser,
\nUnsern guten Kaiser Franz! :| Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser,
\nUnsern guten Kaiser Franz,
\nHoch als Herrscher, hoch als Weiser,
\nSteht er in des Ruhmes Glanz;
\nLiebe windet Lorbeerreiser
\nIhm zum ewig grünen Kranz.
\n|: Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser,
\nUnsern guten Kaiser Franz! :| Über blühende Gefilde
\nReicht sein Scepter weit und breit;
\nSäulen seines Throns sind milde,
\nBiedersinn und Redlichkeit,
\nUnd von seinem Wappenschilde
\nStrahlet die Gerechtigkeit.
\n|: Gott erhalte unsern Kaiser,
\nUnsern guten Kaiser Franz! :| Sich mit Tugenden zu schmücken,
\nAchtet er der Sorgen werth,
\nNicht um Völker zu erdrücken
\nFlammt in seiner Hand das Schwert:
\nSie zu segnen, zu beglücken,
\nIst der Preis, den er begehrt,
\n|: Gott erhalte unsern Kaiser,
\nUnsern guten Kaiser Franz! :| Er zerbrach der Knechtschaft Bande,
\nHob zur Freiheit uns empor!
\nFrüh' erleb' er deutscher Lande,
\nDeutscher Völker höchsten Flor,
\nUnd vernehme noch am Rande
\nSpäter Gruft der Enkel Chor:
\n|: Gott erhalte unsern Kaiser,
\nUnsern guten Kaiser Franz! :|

Burney's translation

During Haydn's lifetime, the musicologist Charles Burney, a friend of the composer, made a English translation of the first verse which is more felicitous if less literal than the one given above. God preserve the Emp'ror Francis
\nSov'reign ever good and great;
\nSave, o save him from mischances
\nIn Prosperity and State!
\nMay his Laurels ever blooming
\nBe by Patriot Virtue fed;
\nMay his worth the world illumine
\nAnd bring back the Sheep misled!
\nGod preserve our Emp'ror Francis!
\nSov'reign ever good and great. The penultimate couplet about sheep lacks a counterpart in the original German and appears to be Burney's own contribution.

See also

• Das Lied der Deutschen\n*Haydn and folk music

External link

• Image of the autograph score, from the "aeiou" music history site