Gretel singt!

How to Approach a German Text—Part 2: The Method

No doubt: You will master the music. But will you master the text too? The following approach will help you better understand the linguistics of an aria, a Lied, or a poem.

When studying a new text, look at the sentences separately. Often, the meaning of a sentence reveals itself only when you read it to the very end. (Wald, der = forest; dunkel = dark)

Im dunklen Wald singt Gretel für die Kinder ein Lied.

A) Mark all nouns.

B) Identify the verb and find out how it is conjugated (changed according to the thing, person that is doing the action: ich singe, du singst; er, sie, es singt, sie singen, etc.)

C) Look at the meaning of the verb and then find the thing, person, or pronoun that is doing the specific action. Keep in mind: The German word order can be different from English. Gretel singt. For now, disregard adjectives, adverbs, etc.

D) Find the thing, person, or pronoun to whom the action (the verb) is directed. Put it together and see if it makes sense. Gretel singt ein Lied.

E) Add another layer of meaning by inserting the adjectives, adverbs, etc. Im dunklen Wald.

F) Tie up loose ends. Is there anything that would tell you when or where the action takes place, or for, against, with, or without something? Look at prepositions like in, im, auf, für, über, unter, neben, etc. Für die Kinder.

By now, you might have a general sense what the sentence is about. If not—for example, if there are several verbs in one sentence—consider this:

● Is it possible that the sentence is written in the past perfect tense or the future tense? Is the verb combined with an extra verb that expresses possibility or necessity (modal verb)?

Im dunklen Wald hat Gretel ein Lied für die Kinder gesungen. (perfect tense)

Im dunklen Wald wird Gretel ein Lied für die Kinder singen. (future tense)

Im dunklen Wald muss Gretel ein Lied für die Kinder singen. (modal verb müssen)

● If you discover a preposition somewhat forlorn at the end of the sentence, you might have found the prefix of a separable verb. Für die Agentin singt Gretel ein Lied vor. Verbs often have a different meaning with a prefix than without. (vorsingen = to audition)

● Find out how the “little words” fit in, e.g., negative pronouns (kein, nicht) or words called particles that either carry emotions and attitudes or intensify the statement (e.g., doch, bloß, noch).

You will find more details on how to approach a German text in my latest book “Die Frist ist um—Navigate the Language of 10 German Operas.”

More information: Click.

Soon—How to Approach a German Text, part 3: Practice with the Lotosblume.

Got it?

How to Approach a German Text (I)

This is the first part of a three-part series on a method that helps you to get a rough understanding of a German text, especially an aria, a Lied, or a poem.

With a few basics you can cut through the thicket of adverbs, adjectives, interjections, grammatical twists, and colloquial language until you get to the core of a statement, the basis of every sentence: a thing or a person who does something. Gretel singt.

Part 1: To Consider

● Many words are old, written by poets or composers one hundred or more years ago: Weib, hold, minnig, laben. They may have disappeared from the modern vocabulary but not always from German dictionaries. You can find them, e.g., in the Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (dwds.de), the digital dictionary of several German Academies of Sciences, which contains German vocabulary from the 1600s on.

● All nouns are capitalized. All of them! These are names, people, things, ideas as well as verbs and adjectives that have been converted to a noun, e.g., das Singen (singing), das Schöne (beauty). All nouns carry one of the three articles (masculine, feminine, neuter). All other words are written in lower case.

● Many compound nouns, the German language is famous for, are a result of the librettist’s creativity. Take them apart, look at the meanings of each part and see how it makes sense: Liebesweh, Fieberschauer, Jubelklang, Herzenskuss, Blumengesicht.

● The way sentences are built can be different in German, depending on the context, i.e., words show up in places you do not expect. Do not forget the iron rule of German grammar: All conjugated verbs are in position number two of the sentence, no matter what occupies position number one.

Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen.

In meinem Herzen kocht der Hölle Rache.

Im Oktober kocht der Hölle Rache in meinem Herzen.

In der Staatsoper kocht der Hölle Rache in meinem Herzen.

If the verb appears in the first position, then you are dealing with

a) a question (Tanzt Zerbinetta heute?),

b) a command (Tanz Zerbinetta!),

c) a conditional phrase. (Tanzt Zerbinetta heute, bekommt sie Geld.)

You will find more details about how to approach a German text in my latest book “Die Frist ist um—Navigate the Language of 10 German Operas.”

More information: Click.

Soon—How to Approach a German Text, part 2: The Method

Safe Arrival Guaranteed

Die Frist ist um—Navigate the Language of 10 German Operas is the latest book by Bernd Hendricks.

Do not fear the journey. Despite rumors to the contrary, there will be no maelstrom. No storm will force you to return. Once you have hoisted the sails, the German language will appear as an ocean, calm and ready to be conquered. At first, linguistic obstacles, impediments to your comprehension, will jut out like rocks—slight changes in the spelling of articles and pronouns, umlauts that did not appear in those verbs a few lines earlier, a word order that makes no sense. Trust yourself. With resilience, courage, and hard work—three of a singer’s virtues—and with the help of this book you will navigate the language of German opera and arrive safely.

Die Frist ist um—Navigate the Language of 10 German Operas is a compass, written for you—singers, vocal students, teachers, and everyone who loves music and language. On 379 pages you will encounter … 

– the most relevant grammar rules presented in concise and comprehensible explanations,
– a simplified method to access the meaning of a text without having to consult a translation,
– a linguistic review of the 10 most popular operas of the German repertoire. After providing intriguing background on the composers and librettists and their times, the book introduces the operas’ style, vocabulary and phrases, often uncovering the wit and depth of colloquial and local language. Highlight of each chapter are the linguistic interpretations of the most important—altogether 36—arias and duets.

As soprano Maria King notes in her foreword, the “readers come away with more than just a few sentences or the text of an aria explained.” And: “You’ll have more than a fish, you’ll know how to fish—by which I mean, fishing themeanings and nuances from this and your other German-language repertoire, plumbing the depth and beauty of the texts to create a fuller, richer performance.”

The book’s author, Berlin-based language teacher and writer Bernd Hendricks has been teaching German to singers for the last two decades. His workshops in Berlin, Vienna, and London are based on his widely read first book Ach ich fühl’s—German for Opera Singers in Three Acts: Studying, Speaking, Singing.

Die Frist ist um–Navigate the Language of 10 German Operas: 379 pages, $ 28.80

Available at: lulu.com, amazon.com and bookstores