Auf der Lüneburger Heide
Encyclopedia
The song Auf der Lüneburger Heide ("On the Lüneburg Heath") was composed in 1912 by Ludwig Rahlfs based on a poem from the collection Der kleine Rosengarten ("The Little Rose Garden") by Hermann Löns
.
It is often played at folk festival
s in this region of north Germany and is also frequently part of the repertoire of local choral societies.
It gained fame outside the Lüneburg Heath
as a result of the 1951 film Grün ist die Heide ("Green is the Heath") with Kurt Reimann as the singer and the 1972 film of the same name in which Roy Black
sings the heathland song. Various musicians have publicised their own interpretations of the song, for example the tenor
Rudolf Schock
on his CD Stimme für Millionen ("Voice for Millions"). The Slovenia
n industrial band Laibach
used the song in 1988 on their cover version
of the Beatles album Let it be
, where under the title Maggie Mae, instead of the folk song used by the Beatles an unfamiliar version of Auf der Lüneburger Heide (first and third verses) may be heard.
Hermann Löns
Hermann Löns was a German journalist and writer. He is most famous as "The Poet of the Heath" for his novels and poems celebrating the people and landscape of the North German moors, particularly the Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony. Löns is well known in Germany for his famous folksongs...
.
It is often played at folk festival
Folk festival
A Folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and folk music.-Canada:Alberta*Calgary Folk Music Festival*Canmore Folk Music Festival*Edmonton Folk Music Festival*Jasper Folk Festival*Wild Mountain Music FestOntario*Barriefolk...
s in this region of north Germany and is also frequently part of the repertoire of local choral societies.
It gained fame outside the Lüneburg Heath
Lüneburg Heath
The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...
as a result of the 1951 film Grün ist die Heide ("Green is the Heath") with Kurt Reimann as the singer and the 1972 film of the same name in which Roy Black
Roy Black
Roy Black may refer to:* Roy Black , U.S. criminal defense attorney and law professor* Roy Black , German singer and actor* Roy Turnbull Black, early 20th century U.S. chess player...
sings the heathland song. Various musicians have publicised their own interpretations of the song, for example the tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
Rudolf Schock
Rudolf Schock
Rudolf Johann Schock was a German tenor.He sang a wide repertory from operetta to Lohengrin, recording among others opera and lieder, doing television, radio and film work. Slim and handsome, he made many films.His voice fell almost into the heldentenor fach but was smaller and more...
on his CD Stimme für Millionen ("Voice for Millions"). The Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n industrial band Laibach
Laibach (band)
Laibach is a Slovenian avant-garde music group associated with industrial, martial, and neo-classical musical styles. Laibach formed June 1, 1980 in Trbovlje, Slovenia . Laibach represents the music wing of the Neue Slowenische Kunst art collective, of which it was a founding member in 1984...
used the song in 1988 on their cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the Beatles album Let it be
Let It Be (song)
"Let It Be" is a song by The Beatles, released in March 1970 as a single, and as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was their final single before McCartney announced his departure from the band...
, where under the title Maggie Mae, instead of the folk song used by the Beatles an unfamiliar version of Auf der Lüneburger Heide (first and third verses) may be heard.