Songs My Mother Taught Me (Czech: Když mne stará matka zpívat, German: Als die alte Mutter sang), is a song by Antonín Dvořák which forms part of his Gypsy Songs cycle (Cigánské melodie, B. 104/4, Op. 55/4), written for voice and piano in 1880. The Gypsy Songs are set to poems by Adolf Heyduk in both Czech and German. This song, in particular, has achieved widespread fame.
The song has been recorded by a number of well-known singers, including Edita Gruberova, Magdalena Kožená, Nellie Melba, Rosa Ponselle, Jeanette MacDonald, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Victoria de los Angeles, Joan Sutherland, Paul Robeson, Angela Gheorghiu, Frederica von Stade and Renée Fleming.
The song is also featured on the album Charlotte Church.
Artists who have recorded instrumental versions of the song include Glenn Miller, Fritz Kreisler, Julian Lloyd Webber and Yo-Yo Ma.
The title Songs My Mother Taught Me has frequently been used by singers in recitals or on recital discs, even when the song itself is not included in the recording.
Fritz Kreisler transcribed the song for violin and piano and performed it frequently. His transcription was first published in 1914.[1]
| Czech text | English Translation | German text by Adolf Heyduk |
|---|---|---|
| Když mne stará matka zpívat, zpívat učívala, | Songs my mother taught me, In the days long vanished; | Als die alte Mutter mich noch lehrte singen, |
| podivno, že často, často slzívala. | Seldom from her eyelids were the teardrops banished. | tränen in den Wimpern gar so oft ihr hingen. |
| A ted' také pláčem snědé líce mučím, | Now I teach my children, each melodious measure. | Jetzt, wo ich die Kleinen selber üb im Sange, |
| když cigánské děti hrát a zpívat učím! | Oft the tears are flowing, oft they flow from my memory's treasure. | rieselt's in den Bart oft, rieselt's oft von der braunen Wange. |