Wahre Freundschaft soll nicht wanken - The German folk song for our Greek friends

This is the song that the German school chose for the Greek students to rehears and to record for our Comenius CD:

Wahre Freundschaft Soll Nicht Wanken

1. Wahre Freundschaft soll nicht wanken,

wenn sie gleich entfernet ist;

lebet fort noch in Gedanken

und der Treue nie vergisst.

2. Keine Ader soll mir schlagen,

wo ich nicht an dich gedacht,

ich will Sorge für dich tragen

bis zur späten Mitternacht.

3. Wenn der Mühlstein träget Reben

Und daraus fließt kühler Wein,

Wenn der Tod mir nimmt das leben,

hör’ ich auf getreu zu sein.

One translation into English:

True Fiendship Shouldn’t Suffer

1. True friendship shouldn’t suffer, Even if it’s far away; It should stay alive even in thoughts And never forget loyalty.

2. There shouldn’t be a moment when I don’t think about you, I’ll care for you Till late midnight.

3. When the wine shoots grow on millstones And out of them pours cool wine, Only when death is taking my life, I’d stop being loyal to you.

There are three more verses that are not sung nowadays. This folksong from the Franks has been known in many different lyrical and melodical variations, since the middle of the 18th century. A folksong is a song that has a text, that’s easy to understand, a cheerful character, and a melody, mostly in major, that’s easy to sing. This song is divided into verses and the chorus. The topics are usually connected with friendship, love, homeland, passion and geographical areas. The language is denoted with ancient German terms. Usually it is sung a cappella.

Here is the sheet music:

And a link to the song on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIfU...

Click for the sample recording of the CD, and the pictures of the live performance on Menorca, in May 2011.