It
is always interesting to find the original text of a translated song, because then
I can compare them. Of course I have respect to the translator, who has tried
diligently to get the best result of the translation. I don’t want to criticize
or judge the translation. Especially this is a song. It is really not easy to
translate a song. By doing translation you are responsible to convey the
message from the author to the readers, whose language is different from the
author’s language. Translation is the bridge which connects an author to those
readers. However, in translating a song you have additional works like you
should think of the melody and the rhyme.
Not
only grammatical problems which need language skills to solve them in
translating there will be some other problems, because there are some factors
which influence. For example a translator needs to know things related to the
author in regard to understand her / him such as her or his background, the political
situation of the country where the author lives or has lived, the culture , the
social life, etc.. Therefore it is not correct if you translate a text from a
translation. In this case this song is in German, maybe the English translation
is available, and you want to translate the song into Indonesian language, so
you should translate it from German, not from the English translation.
Here
I want to expose the German Church song “O Selig Haus”. This song is currently ringing
in my ears. 😊 I just want to find the difference between the original text
and the translation.
du wahrer Seelenfreund, Herr Jesus Christ;
wo unter allen Gästen, die da kommen,
du der gefeiertste und liebste bist;
wo aller Herzen dir entgegenschlagen
und aller
Augen freudig auf dich sehn;
wo aller Lippen dein Gebot erfragen
und alle deines Winks gewärtig stehn!
wo aller Lippen dein Gebot erfragen
und alle deines Winks gewärtig stehn!
I
got the text from the ecclesiastical hymnbook of state
church of Württemberg “Evangelisches Kirchengesangbuch” (Stuttgart: Verlag des
Evangelischen Gesangbuchs, 1986). This song is on number 449.
Now,
the translation, which is published in an ecclesiastical hymnbook Kidung Jemaat
(Jakarta: Yayasan Musik Gereja, 2002) is as follows:
di mana Kaulah Tamu yang tetap:
dan merasakan tiap sukacita
tanpa Tuhannya tiadalah lengkap;
di mana hati girang menyambutMu
dan
memandangMu dengan berseri;
tiap anggota menanti sabdaMu
dan taat akan Firman yang Kau bri.
tiap anggota menanti sabdaMu
dan taat akan Firman yang Kau bri.
It
is important to realize that I don’t know which text the translators have used
as the source text. In Kidung Jemaat it is written, that the author is Karl
Johan Philipp Spitta. There is no composer name. It is only written that the
melody is German melody from 18th century.
In
the Evangelisches Kirchengesangbuch it is written that the author is Philipp
Spitta. About the composer it is written as follows: Eigene Weise (ChB), Genf
um 1543/ Friedrich Silcher 1844.
The
melodies of both versions are different.
There
is short information about the author and the composer in Evangelisches
Kirchengesangbuch. I quote it shorter here.
Philipp
Spitta: born 1801 in Hannover. He was reverend* in various Hannoverian parishes.
Passed away 1859.
Friedrich
Silcher: born 1789 in Schnait in the Remstal (Württemberg).
Passed away 1860.
*Note:
there is different usage of terms Pfarrer and Pastor in Protestant and Catholic
Churches in Germany. In South Germany the Protestant Churches say Pfarrer and
the Catholic Churches say Pastor for their reverends / priests. In North Germany
is inverse. The Protestant Churches say Pastor and the Catholic Churches say
Pfarrer.
As
I lived with Family Diedrich 1996 in Herzberg, Mr Peter Diedrich was surprised
because I always said Pfarrer. The veterinary surgeon knew that I am Protestant,
but why I always said “Pfarrer”. Therefore he asked me again, whether I were
Catholic. 😊
I
only knew one term “Pfarrer” since I met Pfarrer Dr. Martin Schulz-Rauch who
has helped me in finding the material for my final exam prior my visit to
Germany. He was the reverend in the Evangelische Gemeinde Deutscher Sprache (Protestant
Parish of German Language) in Jakarta.
I
didn’t expect that there is a different usage of both terms and that the term
“pastor” is also used in the Protestant Church, since in Indonesian language,
the term “Pastor” is used by the Catholic Church. I thought my friend Pastor
Heiner Frank has informed me about this different term usage. He was the
reverend in St. Johannes Church in Salzhausen in Niedersachsen (North Germany), where I also have lived. In my last visit 2006 in Germany Heiner
was Pfarrer (reverend) in Craheim Palace. 😊 Not Pastor (reverend) anymore. 😉 Therefore I can
assume, maybe Pfarrer Schulz-Rauch comes from South Germany. 😊
You
see, I got the lesson not from the campus, but from my experience in Germany.
Therefore
I have translated the word “Pfarrer” into reverend instead of priest for the
word Pfarrer from the information about Philipp Spitta. Because this hymnbook
comes from Stuttgart (South Germany), I can assume that Mr Spitta supposed to
come from the Protestant Church. Besides it is also written on the book, that
he is a proclaimer of the new awakening Lutheran faith life.
Hm,
I cannot imagine, how the meeting situation of the Protestant and Catholic
Churches due to this different usage is, if the meeting participants are all
Pfarrers and Pastors from the entire Germany. “Hello, Pastor Frank.”, “No, I am
Pfarrer Frank.”😉
Exposition:
About The Text
O selig
Haus, wo man dich aufgenommen, means “o happy house, where you are welcome”
Wow, I am translating. 😊
du wahrer
Seelenfreund, Herr Jesus Christ; means “you true soulmate, Lord Jesus Christ”
wo unter
allen Gästen, die da kommen, means “where among all the guests who come there”
du der
gefeiertste und liebste bist; means “you are the most celebrated and dearest”
wo aller
Herzen dir entgegenschlagen means “where hearts of all (people) beat to you”
und aller
Augen freudig auf dich sehn; means “where eyes of all (people) look at you with
joy”
wo aller
Lippen dein Gebot erfragen means “where lips of all (people) ask your command”
und
alle deines Winks gewärtig stehn! means “where all stand by your sign!”
Now
we check the translation. Will we get the same meaning like the “source text”
if the translation is translated back to German? Let us check:
Berbahagia
tiap rumah tangga, means “Every household is happy”.
di
mana Kaulah Tamu yang tetap, means “where you are the permanent guest”.
dan
merasakan tiap sukacita, means “and feels every joy”.
tanpa
Tuhannya tiadalah lengkap; means “incompletely without its God” .
di
mana hati girang menyambutMu, means “where heart is delighted to welcome you”
dan
memandangMu dengan berseri, means “and look at you with joy”
tiap
anggota menanti sabdaMu, means “every member awaits your Word”
dan
taat akan Firman yang Kau bri. means “and obey the Word you give.”
The
words “O selig Haus” should actually read “O seliges
Haus”. Deleting of the end –es from metrical reasons. (metre).
The
subordinate clause “wo man dich aufgenommen” should read “wo man dich
aufgenommen hat”. Deleting of the
auxiliary verb from metrical reasons. (metre).
This
deleting shows a grammatical problem, that the sentences cannot be accommodated
completely, because the genre is lyric, it means metric comes into play. Of
course the same problem occurs also in the translation.
The
first line “O seliges Haus, wo man dich aufgenommen hat” cannot be accommodated
in the translation, therefore it was translated only “Every household is happy”.
The
second line (a relative clause) “du wahrer Seelenfreund, Herr Jesu Christ” as
the further explanation for “dich” in the previous sentence also cannot be
accommodated in the translation. The relative clause shows the recognition,
that Lord Jesus Christ is the true soulmate. This recognition doesn’t appear in
the translation.
The
translation of this second line reads “wo du der feste Gast bist”. I assume,
that it is an interpretation from the subordinate clause ““wo unter allen
Gästen, die da kommen, du der gefeiertste und liebste bist”. Maybe that is the
reason, since Jesus Christ is the permanent guest, why he is the most
celebrated and dearest.
The
third and fourth line (subordinate clauses) ““wo unter allen Gästen, die da
kommen, du der gefeiertste und liebste bist” cannot be accommodated in the
translation. I think the translation “und der jede Fröhlichkeit unvollständig ohne seinen Gott
fühlt“ is again an interpretation. Since Jesus Christ is the dearest, therefore
every household feels every joy incompletely without its God.
The
usage of the adjective “all”
in “aller Herzen”, “aller Augen”, “aller Lippen” is confusing. The adjective declension
should actually read “alle”, so: alle Herzen, alle Augen and alle Lippen. The
subjects of the sentences are Herzen, Augen und Lippen.
Then
I turned to my former future professor, Prof. Heß-Lüttich. (I would have continued
studying at the University of Bern, if it had worked with the Swiss scholarship
at that time 😠) I was very surprised, as I experienced that “all” doesn’t show the adjective declension
for nominative, but it is genitive in initial position (it was meant: die
Herzen/Augen/Lippen aller [Menschen]).
It
was really new for me. I don’t think, that I have learned “genitive in the
initial position” at the school even at the university. Maybe it is still the
old grammar from 19th century as the professor has explained:
Dear JuitaIn the shortness of time below are my answers to your questions regarding the grammar in the song of C. J. Philipp Spitta (1833): the double problem is here the time distance of language (early 19th century) and the genre: lyric, it means the metric comes into play.
The
fifth line (a subordinate clause) “wo aller Herzen dir entgegenschlagen” cannot
be accommodated in the translation, therefore it was translated only “wo Herzen fröhlich dich empfangen”.
The
sixth line (a subordinate clause) “und aller Augen freudig auf dich sehn” is
interpreted: “freudig” becomes “strahlend”, “aller Augen” becomes “ansehen”.
Therefore the translation reads: “und dich strahlend ansehen”.
The
seventh line (a subordinate clause) “wo aller Lippen dein Gebot erfragen” is
interpreted: “aller Lippen” becomes “jedes Mitglied”, “erfragen” becomes
“warten”. Therefore the translation reads: “jedes Mitglied auf dein Gebot
wartet”. The verb “erfragen” shows an active work compared to the verb
“warten”. “warten” means “only wait”.
In
the subordinate clause “und alle deines Winks gewärtig stehn!” I see that “gewärtig” is connected with genitive. I
asked myself whether “gewärtig” is a preposition. I haven’t heard this
preposition before. Prof. Heß-Lüttich has justified it.
Right, "gewärtig" belongs to the prepositions, which ‘take’ the genitive in German, (which necessitate it); to see further examples please click the link.
The
eighth line (a subordinate clause) “und alle deines Winks gewärtig stehn!” is
interpreted: “alle” becomes “jedes Mitglied”. But the words cannot be written
anymore. It should be understood, that this subordinate clause follows the previous
subordinate clause and has the same subject. “deines Winks gewärtig stehn” becomes
“Gebote gehorcht”. Therefore the translation reads: “und (jedes Mitglied) die
von dir gegebenen Gebote gehorcht”.
It
is understood now, why it is not really correct if somebody will translate a
text using a translation as the source text, not using the text in the original
language.
About The Melody and Rhyme
The
song consists of 5 verses in the German text. In Indonesian text the song has
only 2 verses.
The
melody is very different. I like the melody of the Indonesian version more than
the melody of the German version. The melody of the Indonesian version is on C
scale, while the melody of the German version is on D scale.
Since
in the notice about Friedrich Silcher there is W 449* sign I can assume that
either the melody of this song comes from him or it was edited by him from an
older melody template. It was probably a melody, which was famous in Geneva
around 1543, then Silcher edited in 1844. Further there is also ChB sign. It means that the melody is found in
Choralbuch.
The translation can have the same rhyme like the “source text”: a-b ,
a-b , c-d
, c-d
“Source text”: -men – Christ , -men – bist , -gen – sehn , -gen – stehn
Translation: -ga – -tap , -ta – -kap , Mu – -ri , Mu – bri .
I find it great.
That’s all, what I have found in the “source text” and the Indonesian
translation. Interesting. However, if you want to translate this song into
Bahasa Batak or any other language, please use the German text as the source
text, not the Indonesian translation. 😊
Now, let me sing the song for you. 😊 Indonesian text and German text but with the melody of the
Indonesian version. Please join me. 😊 I find the melody of
the German version difficult. Maybe I’ll try later to practice it.😊
German Version with the melody of the Indonesian version
You have
read text 57.
Please read text 58: I am Proud of You
Please read text 58: I am Proud of You
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