Translate "Fanfare for the Common Man"

Question

We are playing this music in the band. The others want to know how to say this in German. "Common" is a tricky word. I think the composer was intending to say "common" as opposed to "noble", so he meant "ordinary" or "normal".

I can't think of a way to say this in German which doesn't come across as negative. I tried "für den normalen Mann", or "gemein" or "bürgerlich", but nothing seems to fit.

edit: I checked the title, it is an allusion to vice president Henry A. Wallace proclaiming the dawning of the "Century of the Common Man" in 1942. This is probably not the place to ponder on what he meant, but the more I think the less I see it. Politik-speak. I think I'll go for Normalbürger.

And I thought the hard part would be to translate “man” :) — Carsten S, Mar 18 '15 at 07:23
Das gemeine Volk oder das grobe Pack --- beide etwas angestaubt ;-) — Robert, Mar 18 '15 at 14:33
You might want to read the Wikipedia article and consider the composer's comment: "Copland's reply was "I [am] all for honoring the common man at income tax time"." - there are certainly political tones to its title. As an aside, on the sidebar to the Wikipedia article, there are translations of the article (none in German), but you've got Spanish translated "Fanfarria para el hombre corriente" though many others use the English title (not uncommon in music). — , Mar 18 '15 at 14:42
@MichaelT And the German Wikipedia article on Copland leaves "Fanfare for the Common Man" untranslated. (Actually, it only translates the titles of his film scores: even "Third Symphony" appears in English!) — David Richerby, Mar 18 '15 at 18:34

Wrzlprmft · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-18T15:18:34.010

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In my perception, the usual and probably also the best-fitting translation of common in such a context is einfach.

I am not entirely happy with translating the common man as der einfache Mann though, as man is less gender-specific than Mann. However, you could solve this issue by using Leute instead if the fanfare is sufficiently generic and does not address the common man as an individual.

An alternative to Leute is Mensch (thanks to Karoshi), which has the advantage of being singular. I would prefer Leute over Mensch, however, because in einfache Leute I tend to connect einfach to the status, while in einfacher Mensch, I connect einfach to the individuum, i.e., I would rather think of a uncomplicated person.

Assuming that the translation of fanfare to Fanfare is given (people more wised in music should argue about this), I would thus arrive at:

Fanfare der einfachen Leute

edited Mar 18 '15 at 15:18

answered Mar 18 '15 at 09:03

Wrzlprmft

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Ja, the German for Fanfare is Fanfare, at least in our band it is. – RedSonja Mar 18 '15 at 09:06
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Isn't it possible to use "Mensch" here? Fanfare des einfachen Menschen. – persson Mar 18 '15 at 09:10
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@karoshi: Good suggestion, though I would still prefer Leute if the context does not require a singular word. I have to think a bit about why I prefer this. – Wrzlprmft Mar 18 '15 at 09:15
The better translation for man is Bürger imho. The medieval idea of Bürger as inhabitant of a city has worn out in Germany over the centuries. Everybody in Germany, except for aristocrats and the upper 10000, regards himself as Bürger in a class sense. I'm not quite sure about the anglophone world, but I guess that the word citizen hasn't worn out as much due to the presence and use of man as a very generic term. So, in this generic context, Bürger wouldn't be misinterpreted as rather citizen than man. – Toscho Mar 18 '15 at 12:42
Althought not political correct these days "common man" translated to "einfacher Mann" is a common term ... – alk Mar 18 '15 at 13:15
@alk: That may be the case, but I still think that Mann is not the best way to capture the meaning of man here – which I do not think for reasons of political correctness by the way. – Wrzlprmft Mar 18 '15 at 13:28
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@karoshi: I added a paragraph on the alternative Mensch. – Wrzlprmft Mar 18 '15 at 15:19
Dict.leo.org translates "common man" to "der Gemeine" ... :-) and "man" to " Mensch" also! ;-) – alk Mar 18 '15 at 18:40
@alk: So, der gemeine Mensch translates to common man man? – Wrzlprmft Mar 18 '15 at 18:42
Please note the capitalisation in "der Gemeine". – alk Mar 18 '15 at 18:44
"Der kleine Mann" mag ja noch ein allgemeiner Begriff sein, "die kleine Frau" dürfte aber nur eine abwertende Bezeichnung für eine kleinwüchsige Persone sein. Der Versuch, ständig zu gendern, nervt. – harper Mar 21 '15 at 07:32
@harper: Ja, der kleine Mann ist nicht einfach das Gegenstück zu die kleine Frau; es ist (nach meiner Wahrnehmung) eben aber auch kein generisches Maskulinum, wie z. B. Student, Bürger o. Ä. (Ich halte die sogenannte gendergerechte Sprache übrigens für unsinnig, da sie den Zielen, die sie zu erreichen versucht, mehr schadet als nutzt.) – Wrzlprmft Mar 21 '15 at 08:40

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 20 '18 at 17:16

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In German "Fanfare" is annotated with playing a trumpet or trombone (Trompete bzw. Posaune). If neither trumpet nor trombone are used in the Fanfare of the Common Man "Hymne" might be a better translation than "Fanfare".

For "the common man" I propose "der einfachen Bürger" (plural). If you intend to make a slight ironic political statement "Fanfare der Wählerinnen und Wähler" (fanfare of the female and male voters) might be a option.

edited Dec 20 '18 at 17:16

Rudy Velthuis

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answered Mar 18 '15 at 13:45

user15329

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The Fanfare certainly makes use of trumpets and trombones. Its arranged for 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, and bass drum. You can hear the piece on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NjssV8UuVA – Mar 18 '15 at 14:45
Fanfare has the association with brass instruments in English too, and Fanfare for the Common Man is a quintessential example in this respect; it opens with a famous solo from the trumpet section. – PLL Mar 19 '15 at 04:32
@MichaelT Germans can't hear it with that link since YouTube had to deny it. I assume that's caused by the GEMA/YouTube conflict. – harper Mar 19 '15 at 16:06
@harper that is unfortunate. It is a beautiful piece. The Wikipedia page has an exerpt of it that you could listen to if there are problems with YouTube's availability. There may also be other renditions on YouTube that are available in your location (I've seen particular videos limited to certain geographies) - I just pulled the first one since it worked for me and can't verify if it doesn't work for others. – Mar 19 '15 at 16:09
The Wikipedia exerpt is a bit too short. I could acces this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PVgs38tpMhs from Germany. – harper Mar 19 '15 at 16:23
We are playing the Emerson, Lake and Palmer version, arranged for Brass Band. It starts with a "normal" brass fanfare, has a rocky middle section, and ends with the fanfare again. – RedSonja Mar 20 '15 at 06:32
The Emerson, Lake & Palmer version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK92hdp6u18 works fine for me, from Germany. I can't see it, but are they actually using the Moog Modular, or is it just a prop? – Rudy Velthuis Dec 20 '18 at 17:27

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 18 '15 at 15:02

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Perhaps Fanfare des Volkes would work?

answered Mar 18 '15 at 15:02

Tim

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I'm afraid your answer is insufficient. The answer post is not part of a chat neither a casual dialog line in a forum, but should be more like a FAQ article, based on your knowledge and sound additional research, if necessary. For your answer here, you should at least give us a hint why you think this could be a proper translation, and you should first ask yourself, not the community, whether this would work or not. – Martin Schwehla Mar 18 '15 at 18:10
Perhaps a little explanation might be nice, but I think "Fanfare des Volkes" sounds good. I guess "Volksfanfare" sounds wrong, though. – Rudy Velthuis Dec 20 '18 at 17:33

Translate "Fanfare for the Common Man"

3 Answers3