Die Fischerin

Fischerin, Die, a short Singspiel written by Goethe for open-air performance at Weimar, and published in 1782. It was first performed in the park at Tiefurt on the banks of the Ilm on the evening of 22 July 1782. Dortchen, who keeps house for her fisher father, is betrothed to the fisherman Niklas. Thinking that she is insufficiently appreciated, she hides, leaving her father and Niklas, when they return, to think that she has been drowned. They summon the neighbours to search, but Dortchen reappears and all is well. In a note added in 1807 Goethe indicated that the scene in which the agitated torches of the neighbours make a fascinating spectacle was the raison d'être of this slender piece. The ballad ‘Erlkönig’ is sung by Dortchen as the opening number.