Bunt sind schon die Wälder [German folk song][+English translation]

The recordings are directly from me, when I was hiking in a lovely area at the foothills of the Alps. “Bunt sind schon die Wälder“ is a song about autumn written by the Swiss poet Johann Gaudenz von Salis-Seewis in 1782; it was published in 1786. There are seven stanzas in his original version, another 1793 version has five, two of them being new. The melody was created in 1799 by the Prussian musician Johann Reichardt, but other, less popular, melodies were composed as well - one of them by the great Franz Schubert in 1816. Originally, the last stanza ends with “deutschen Ringeltanz“ (German round dance). By the way, you might have noticed that some parts are a bit weird: peaches ripening in autumn? In the rather cold German lands? With stripes? Some say he actually talks about pumpkins, but there are doubts about the logic of that as well. Perhaps, it is a rather “personal“ song ... in any case, it is very popular and a true classic. Disclaim