It’s a song by the great Hugo Wolf, setting a poem by Eduard Mörike. The singer? Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, only the greatest male interpreter of German lieder known to modern history. His accompanist? The great Gerald Moore.

The subject? Christ as a child, playing innocently on his mother’s lap, as the tree bearing the wood that will form the cross is seen nearby. What a haunting image for Holy Week, and what a beautiful, short song.

Auf ein altes Bild

In grüner Landschaft Sommerflor,
Bei kühlem Wasser, Schilf und Rohr,
Schau, wie das Knäblein sündelos
Frei spielet auf der Jungfrau Schoss!
Und dort im Walde wonnesam,
Ach, grünet schon des Kreuzes Stamm!

On an old painting

In the summer haze of a green landscape,
By cool water, rushes and reeds,
See how the Child, born without sin,
Plays freely on the Virgin’s lap!
And ah! growing blissfully there in the wood,
Already the tree of the cross is turning green!