Paul Hindemith: Pittsburgh Symphony

In the 2nd movement of his _Pittsburgh Symphony_ of 1958, Paul Hindemith quotes the Pennsylvania Dutch song 'Hab lumbedruwwel mit me lumbeschatz'. Does anyone know what this song title means? This is apparently in the South German dialect of the early Pennsylvania colonies.

According to Prof. Heinz Distelfnork of the Amish Technological Institute, it means 'I drubbed my wooden head with large pieces of lumber.'

:> Does anyone know what this song title means?

: According to Prof. Heinz Distelfnork of the Amish Technological : Institute, it means 'I drubbed my wooden head with large pieces of : lumber.'

I think you must have misunderstood Prof. Distnelfnork. 'Lumbeschatz' means 'My beloved's lumber' not 'large pieces of lumber.' It is true that among the earliest settlers of Pennsylvania, giving one's beloved lumber was considered a sign of affection, and the larger the pieces of lumber, the more impressive the show.

says...

How could I have been so careless? Of course, the line is 'I drubbed my *beloved's* head with large pieces of lumber. The rest of it is:

'In den alten Zeiten, wo das Wunschen noch geholfen hat, lebte ein König, dessen Töchter waren alle schön, aber die jüngste war so schön, das die Sonne selber, die doch so vieles gesehen hat, sich verwunderte, so oft sie ihr ins Gesicht schien.'

Sometimes translated as:

'She's a bad-actin' woman, don't do no man no good

Sometimes lyrics can be said to lose in the translation; I can only say that these seem to have gained a bit! Who knew that all those nights playin' in them Berlin honky-tonks ('Honkishe Tonken' would've borne such strange and wonderful fruit. Wasn't he billed as 'Lean 'n Mean 'n Six-String Grune Hindemith'?

These are priceless, and I have printed them out to slip into the CD case to save forever. I'm no closer to ferreting out the true meaning of that title, but after these, a real translation can only be a disappointment.

Danke schön, danke tausendmal,

Dave

PS. Does anyone know what the title *really* means?

On 27 Mar 2001 01:54:25 GMT, I hath wrotten: 'In the 2nd movement of his _Pittsburgh Symphony_ of 1958, Paul Hindemith quotes the Pennsylvania Dutch song 'Hab lumbedruwwel mit me lumbeschatz'. Does anyone know what this song title means? This is apparently in the South German dialect of the early Pennsylvania colonies.'

MaestroDJS schrieb:

To try a serious answer: Afaik the Pennsylvania Dutch is the dialect spoken by immigrants from the Palatinate, Germany. To find the P. on a map: The southern- most part of the left-of-the-Rhine part of Germany, with the town of Kaisers- lautern at its center.

Since I was born there I can say something about the dialect: 'Lumbe' has no connection with lumber, but is the dialect version of 'Lumpen' = rags. A dictionary tells you of other meanings of Lumpen: Rabble, riff-raff, scoundrels.

'Druwwel' rings no bells. Provided the word was rendered correctly it is probably an adaption of the english word 'trouble'. The song, of which I know nothing else, most likely tells a rag-proletariat love story.

hanns krehbiel

Well, I for one am glad to hear from you about this. However, I suspect the whole thread has been based on a jolly hoax!

William H. Pittman