Hans Bethge

Hans Bethge (* January 9, 1876 in Dessau; † February 1, 1946 in Göppingen, buried in Kirchheim unter Teck) was a German poet whose reputation abroad rests above all on the versions of Tang dynasty poetry set in Gustav Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde". The Max-Eyth-Haus in Kirchheim unter Teck houses a permanent exibit of Hans Bethge's books, photographs and other artifacts, while his manuscripts are preserved at the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach. [http://www.dla-marbach.de/]

Life

Hans Bethge studied modern languages and philosophy at the universities of Halle, Erlangen and Geneva. 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, and the art historian Julius Meier-Gräfe, as well as other artists from the Worpswede artist colony. The "Jugendstil" painter Heinrich Vogeler illustrated three of his books, and the sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck, an early recognizer of his genius, made several portraits [http://www.yinyang-verlag.de/Bethge-Lehmbruck.gif] of him.

Artistic achievement

Bethge published several volumes of poems (chiefly on love and nature), diaries, travelogues, short stories, essays and plays. 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 seven of its poems in "Das Lied von der Erde". 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 Schönberg, Anton von Webern, Hanns Eisler, Viktor Ullmann, Gottfried von Einem, Ernst Krenek, Artur Immisch, Ludvig Irgens-Jensen [http://listserv.uh.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9806&L=lieder-l&T=0&P=4555] , Paul Graener, Ernst Toch, Fartein Valen, and Egon Wellesz.

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". ISBN 3-9806799-5-0
* "Pfirsichblüten aus China. Nachdichtungen chinesischer Lyrik". ISBN 3-935727-06-2
* "Ägyptische Reise" (Egyptian Journey)
* "Die armenische Nachtigall. Nachdichtungen des Nahabet Kuchak und anderer armenischer Dichter". ISBN 3-935727-02-X
* "Das türkische Liederbuch. Nachdichtungen türkischer Lyrik". ISBN 3-9806799-7-7
* "Japanischer Frühling. Nachdichtungen japanischer Lyrik". ISBN 3-935727-00-3
* "Hafez (poet) - Die Lieder und Gesänge in Nachdichtungen". ISBN 3-935727-03-8
* "Omar Khayyam - Die Nachdichtungen seiner Rubai'yat". ISBN 3-935727-01-1
* " [Sadi|Sa'di (poet) der Weise. Die Verse des persischen Dichters in Nachdichtungen". ISBN 3-9806799-6-9
* "Der persische Rosengarten. Nachdichtungen persischer Lyrik". ISBN 3-935727-01-1
* "Die indische Harfe. Nachdichtungen indischer Lyrik. Nachdichtungen orientalischer Lyrik". ISBN 3-9806799-8-5
* "Arabische Nächte. Nachdichtungen arabischer Lyrik". ISBN 3-935727-05-4
* "Der asiatische Liebestempel. Nachdichtungen der Liebeslieder der Völker Mittelasiens". ISBN 3-935727-04-6
* `` 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

Bibliography

* Eberhard Gilbert Bethge: "Hans Bethge. Leben und Werk. Eine Biographie." 3., erw. u. bebild. Auflage. YinYang Media, Kelkheim 2002, ISBN 3-9806799-9-3
* Bernd Löffler: "Hans Bethge in Kirchheim unter Teck." In: "Marbacher Spuren." Heft 12, Marbach 1991

External links

*
*
* [http://www.yinyang-verlag.de/HansBethge.htm New editions of translations published by YinYang-Verlag]
* [http://www.teck.de/region/service/lokalnachrichten/2001/artikel/tb0801.004.html Teck.de]
* [http://www.yinyang-verlag.de/Bethgekomponisten.htm List of musical settings]
* [http://www.dla-marbach.de/opac_kallias/handschriften/index.html Catalog of the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach]
* [http://www.kunst-und-kultur.de/Museumsdatenbank/show/show.php/1455/ Literarisches Museum im Max-Eyth-Haus, Kirchheim unter Teck]
* [http://www.yinyang-verlag.de/HansBethge.htm Biography (evidently the source of the WPde article) and portraits]

Persondata
NAME=Bethge, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=German writer and poet
DATE OF BIRTH=birth date|1876|1|6|df=y
PLACE OF BIRTH=Dessau, Germany
DATE OF DEATH=death date|1946|2|1|df=y
PLACE OF DEATH=Göppingen, Germany