"Hänsel und Gretel" Sheet Music by Engelbert Humperdinck

When Engelbert Humperdinck’s fairy tale opera Hänsel und Gretel was premiered on 23 December 1893 in Weimar conducted by Richard Strauss, the work could look back on an extensive history of origin.Humperdinck’s younger sister Adelheid Wette (born in 1858) had displayed a great interest in literature in her youth and written a variety of poems for special occasions. In 1888, she wrote a fairy tale entitled Schneewittchen [Snow White] and her brother supplied some songs for this piece. Further fairy tale collaborations followed which were customarily performed within the family circle, and the first draft of the Hänsel und Gretel was begun in 1890. Adelheid’s husband would be celebrating his 34th birthday on 16 May of this year and his wife intended to surprise him with a performance of her version of this fairy tale. Her brother was allotted the task of composing the accompanying songs and, a month before the birthday, she wrote a letter to him in Mainz where Engelbert Humperdinck was among other activities working as an editor for the Schott publishing house, ordering a “very pretty folkloric” Tanzlied [Dance song], a Waldlied [Forest song] (or Echolied [Echo song]), a Schlummerlied [Lullaby] and a Kickericki-Lied [Cock-a-doodle-doo song] from her “dear sugar-sweet little brother... Engel-Bärtchen [angel beard]”. She enclosed the corresponding verses with the letter and “for fun” also provided her own invented melody for the Schlummerlied and rhythmic suggestions for the Tanzlied. Humperdinck went straight to work and, as related in an entry in his diary, was already able to play the songs to the director of the publishing house, Dr Ludwig Strecker, by 19 April.This was the history of origin of the four songs published for the first time edited in form of their original versions in this edition Brüderchen komm’ tanz’ mit mir, Wer ruft mir im Walde doch alles nach, In den Zweigen die Vögelein und Tirelireli! ‘s ist nicht mehr früh “for two children’s voices and piano