Artist: Orchester mit Gesang
Author: Johann Martin Usteri/Hans Georg Nägeli
Label: Jumbola
Year: 1908
Originally a Swiss song Aufmunterung zur Freude (1791). The "Marseillaise des Biedermeiers", one of the most parodied German songs. The melody surfaced in the Sonate Caractéristique in B-Flat (Andantino Espressivo) by Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870). In Holland and Belgium better known as Sinterklaas-song O, Kom Er Eens Kijken, written in 1898 (as Zes December) by Katharina Leopold in songbook Sint Nikolaas - Twaalf Versjes Met Melodieen. Translated in English as Life Let Us Cherish.
Covers:
Lou Bandy [as Schep Vreugde In Het Leve]
Kinderkoor olv Jacob Hamel [as O, Kom Er Eens Kijken, apparantly as a commercial for Dutch department store De Bijenkorf; Hamel translated it in 1933 as a Sinterklaas children song]
Willem Hespe's Kinderkoor [as O, Kom Er Eens Kijken]
Bob Davidse [as Kom Toch Eens Kijken]
Willy Alberti [as Schep Vreugde In Het Leven]
James Last [title track lp]
Leidse Sleuteltjes [as Oh, Kom Er Eens Kijken]
Bennie Huisman [as Schep Vreugde In 't Naaien, bawdy lyrics dating back to 1830]
Vivian Williams [as Life Let Us Cherish on cd Fiddle Tunes Of The Lewis & Clark Era]
VOF de Kunst [as Kom Er Eens Kijken]
The melody was inspired by a flute concerto by Friedrich Hartmann Graf (1727-1795) and a violin concerto by Borghi, who borrowed it from a Rondo by Pleyel. The lyrics of Aufmunterung zur Freude are by Johann Gaudenz von Salis (1762-1834) and were published in 1781 in the collection Schweizerische Blumenlese. Freut euch des Lebens was a poem by Usteri (1763-1827).
If you noticed blunt omissions, mis-interpretations or even out-and-out errors,
please let me know:
Arnold Rypens
Rozenlaan 65
B-2840 Reet (Rumst)