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Matrosenlied (Wir fahren gegen Engelland)
Composer: Herms Niel
Lyricist: Hermann Löns
Arranger: Gustav Skibbe
Vocal Group: Soldatenchor
Instrumental Group: Reichsmusikzug des Reichsarbeitsdienstes, Potsdam-Golm
Conductor: Obermusikzugführer Herms Niel
Recording Date: 19.10.1939
Recording Location: Berlin, Central-Theater (Alte Jakobstraße 30-32)
Record Company: Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin
Es geht um’s Vaterland [Marsch und Lied]
Composer/Lyricist: Herms Niel
Arranger: Erich Walden
Vocal Group: Soldatenchor
Instrumental Group: Reichsmusikzug des Reichsarbeitsdienstes, Potsdam-Golm
Conductor: Obermusikzugführer Herms Niel
Recording Date: 19.10.1939
Recording Location: Berlin, Central-Theater (Alte Jakobstraße 30-32)
Record Company: Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin
The most popular war-song of the WWII, "Matrosenlied" ("Heute wollen wir ein Liedlein singen..."), also known as "Engellandlied" [which was a popular, but never official title], was written in 1914 by Hermann Löns (1866-1914), a German journalist and poet who volunteered and got killed in WWI, in France. His work was much respected, among others, by Hitler, on whose request Löns was exhumed and reburied in the Lüneburg Heath, near the city Walsrode. Song had many composers, but the most successful remained Herms Niel, whose version (1939) is almost the only one known today (although recordings of some other composers' versions still exist as well). An anti-British song, which starts with rather cheerful scenes - a soldier and his friends singing, drinking - and ends with his death at the sea... But it doesn't matter, because "the blood was spilt for Fatherland!" In this particular composition, each strophe is being "announced" with the melody of Richard Wagner's (1813-1883) "Matrosenchor" from "Der fliegende Holländer" and the entire piece ends with the melody of Richard Thiele's (1847-1903) "Deutsches Flaggenlied" (the unofficial German navy anthem). Song has three strophes and all of them were recorded here. It was translated in Finnish ("Suomi marssii"), French ("Oh la fille"), Serbo-Croatian ("Sa pjesmom u boj") and Italian ("Marcia contro l'Inghilterra"). "Es geht um's Vaterland" ("Wir Deutschen stehen marschbereit...") is one of Niel's earliest WWII songs (1939), much more serious than his previous works. It speaks about Germans being prepared to defend their Fatherland - from a "world tyrant". But, even in such a song, Niel had to include a soldier comforting his worried girlfriend... It has three strophes and all of them were recorded. Both recordings are perfectly performed. Note that several different takes were made for both tracks and released as well (they are all almost identical). So far we know that they released takes 4, 5 and 11 of "Matrosenlied" and 4, 5, 6 of "Es geht um's Vaterland" (label and the record number remained identical for all releases).
Ivan Ž.