Translations
of the songs
Brahms:
Vergebliches
Ständchen The Futile
Serenade
(He)
Good evening my sweetheart, good evening my dear!
I come with love for you,
Oh, open your door for me,
Open your door for me!
(She)
My door is locked, I will not let you in;
Mother gave me
wise advice,
That if I gave
you the right to enter
It would be my
ruin!
(He)
So cold is the night, so icy the wind,
That my heart is freezing,
My love will expire,
Let me in my dear!
(She)
Let your love expire, let it be extinguished,
Let it be
extinguished for always,
Go home to bed
and to sleep,
Good night my
lad.
Von Ewiger Liebe Eternal Love
Dark, how dark it is in the forest and the fields!
It is night now, and the world is silent.
There is no light, nor smoke,
Even the lark is silent now.
Leaving the village is a young man
Escorting his sweetheart to her house,
Taking the path by the willows,
He is talking about so many things:
‘ You suffer insults and are hurting,
You suffer insults from others because of me,
Let our love be broken as quickly
As we came together.
Let us be parted with wind and rain
As quickly as we came together.
Now the girl
replies,
‘ Our love cannot
be broken!
Though steel and
iron are durable
Our love is even
stronger.
Iron and steel can
be recast,
But our love, who
could change it?
Iron and steel can
be melted,
Our love will forever endure!’
Die Mainacht May
Night
When the silvery moon shines through the bushes,
And its slumbering light spreads over the grass,
And the nightingale sings, I wander sadly from bush to bush.
Enveloped by the leaves, a pair of doves coos their delight to me;
But I turn away, to seek
darker shadows,
And my solitary tear trickles.
When, oh smiling image, like the blush of dawn,
You shine through my soul; shall I find you on this earth?
And a solitary tear trembles more hotly down my cheek!
Schubert:
Der Neugierige The
Enquiry
I do not ask the
flowers, I do not ask the Stars;
They can not tell me, what I long to know.
I am indeed no gardener, the stars are too high;
So I will ask my little brook, if my heart deceives me.
Oh little brook of my love, how
silent you are today!
I only want to hear
one thing, one little word again and again.
'Yes’ is that one little word, the other is 'no'.
Both these little words enclose my whole
world.
Oh little brook of my love, how
curious you are!
Will you truly not tell me
more, tell me little brook, does she love me?
Du bist die
Ruh You are tranquility
You are
tranquility, gentle peace,
You are longing,
and its conciliation.
I consecrate to you, full
of joy and pain
A dwelling place in my eyes
and heart.
Come in to me, and close
Gently, the gates behind you.
Cast out other suffering from this breast,
So my heart may be filled with your joy.
These windows of my soul,
With your radiance alone are illuminated,
Oh fill them completely.
Lachen und weinen Laughter and tears
Laughter
and tears at all hours of the day,
Are born from
love in all its aspects.
In the morning I laughed
for joy,
But why I now weep at dusk,
I do not even
know myself.
Tears and
laughter at all
hours of the day,
Are born from
love in all its aspects.
In the evening I cried with grief;
But why, when I will rise
in the morning with laughter,
I must ask you, oh heart.
Schumann:
Frauenliebe und –leben A Woman’s Life & Loves
1. Seit
ich ihn gesehen
Since I
first saw him, I think I must be blind;
Wherever
I look I see only him:
As in a
waking dream, his image hovers before me,
Emerging
from the deepest gloom, ever brighter.
Everything
is dark and colourless around me;
My
sister’s games no longer interest me;
I would
rather weep quietly in my room.
Since I
first saw him, I think I must be blind.
2. Er,
der Herrlichste von allen
He, the
noblest of all, how gentle, how kind!
Sweet
lips, clear eyes, bright mind and strong courage.
As there
in the far-off blue,
Yonder
star shines bright and splendid,
So he
shines in my heaven,
Bright
and splendid, sublime and remote.
Go your
way; let me only regard your brightness,
humbly
gaze upon it in happiness and sorrow!
Heed not
my silent prayers,
Dedicated
only to your fortune;
A lowly
maid you may not know, high star of splendour!
Only the
worthiest of all may be made happy by you,
And I
will bless the chosen one many thousand times.
Then I
will rejoice and weep; I will only be happy,
And if my
heart should break,
Break,
heart -- what does it matter!
3. Ich
kann’s nicht fassen, nicht glauben
I can’t
understand or believe it,
I must
have been fooled by a dream.
How, from
all the others, could he have chosen and blessed me?
It seemed
to me, that he said “ I am yours for ever ”,
It seemed
I was still dreaming, for it can never be so.
Oh, let
me die in this dream cradled in his embrace;
I’ll sip
the cup of blissful death in tears of endless joy.
4. Du
Ring an meinem Finger
You ring
on my finger, my little golden ring,
I press
you devoutly to my lips and heart.
I had
reached the end of childhood’s happy dream,
I found
myself alone and lost in a wasteland.
You ring
on my finger, you taught me then,
Opening
my eyes to life’s infinite worth.
I will
serve him, live for him, belonging totally to him.
I will
give myself to him and find myself transfigured
In his
radiance.
5. Helft
mir, ihr Schwestern
Help me,
oh sisters, kindly adorn me
Serve the
happy one today.
Busily
twine about my brow the blossoming myrtle.
When I
lay in my loved one’s arms
He would
long impatiently for this day.
Help me
sisters to banish a foolish fear,
so that I
may meet him with clear eyes,
Him, the
source of my joy.
Have you,
my love, appeared to me;
Do you
give me, oh Sun, your brightness?
Let me
devoutly, humbly bow to my lord.
Scatter
flowers before him, oh sisters, bring him rosebuds.
But to
you my sisters, I bid a sad farewell.
Joyful, I
leave your ranks.
6. Süsser
Freund, du blickest mich
Sweet
friend, you look at me in amaze;
Can’t you
understand why I am crying?
Let the
unfamiliar moist pearl
Tremble
brightly in my eye.
How
alarmed is my bosom, how blissful,
Could I
but say it with words.
Come and
bury your head here on my breast;
I want to
whisper to you, all my joy!
Now you
know what my tears mean,
Should
you not see them you beloved man?
Stay at
my heart, feel it beating, as I press you closer.
Here at
my bedside is room for the cradle.
Where my
lovely dream will hide.
The
morning will come, when the dream awakes
And your
image will laugh up at me.
7. An
meinem Herzen, an meiner Brust
At my
heart, at my breast, you my joy, you my bliss!
Happiness
is love, love is happiness;
I have
said it and will not take it back.
I am
rapturous and happier than ever,
Only she
who suckles and loves the child she holds-
Only a
mother knows what love and happiness means.
Oh how I
pity the man, who cannot feel a mother’s joy.
You
lovely angel, you look at me and laugh.
At my
heart, at my breast, you may joy, you my bliss.
8. Nun hast du mir den ersten
Schmerz getan
Now, you
have hurt me for the first time, but deeply.
You
sleep, you hard, pitiless man, the sleep of death.
The
forsaken one looks before her. The world is empty.
I have
loved and lived. I live no longer.
I
withdraw in to myself and the veil falls;
There I
have you and my lost happiness,
You, my
world.
Strauss:
Drei
Liebeslieder Three Love Songs
1. Die erwachte Rose The awakened rose
The
rosebud was dreaming of sunshine,
Of
the rustling leaves in the green grove,
Of
the spring’s melodious surging waterfall,
Of
the sweet tones of the nightingale,
Of
the breezes caressing and swaying,
Of
fragrances enticing and quivering.
And
when the bud awoke to become a rose,
Then
through her tears she gently laughed,
And
she watched and listened,
How
everything was shining and resounding,
How
all was fragrant and murmuring.
As
though all her dreams had now come true,
In
sweet amazement she trembled and softly whispered:
‘It
is as though I had already lived this once before!’
2 Rote Rosen Red Roses
Do
you remember the rose that you gave me?
The
timid violet’s proud, ardent sister;
From
your breast it still carried the fragrance of its life,
And
I drank this fragrance deeply and deeper into me.
I
see you before me’ your brow and temples glowing,
Your
neck defiant and so tender and white your hands,
In
your eyes Spring remains, yet your body blossoms like the fields at solstice.
All
around me the night weaves, cool and cloudless,
Thus
day and night are dissolved into one.
My
mind dreamt of your red roses
And
of the garden where you gave them to me.
3
Begegnung Encounter
Down
the steps I sprang at full speed,
As up
the steps he bounded to catch me,
And
where the steps are hidden in darkness,
We
kissed many times, but no one saw it.
I walk into the
hall, it is so crowded with lively guests,
No doubt my
cheeks were glowing and I daresay my mouth glowed too.
I thought that
everybody was looking at me
And knew what we
had done together, but no one saw it.
I had to go out
into the garden and wanted to look at the flowers.
I could not wait
any longer to get into the garden.
Everywhere the
roses were blooming
And the birds
sang so loudly, as if they had seen it!
Mahler:
Vier Rückert Lieder Four
songs by Rückert
1. Ich atmet’ einen linden
Duft.
I breathed a gentle
fragrance.
In the room was a sprig of lime,
A present from your loving hand.
How lovely was the
scent of the lime!
How lovely is the
scent of the lime,
The linden-twig that you broke so
gently!
I softly breathe in the scent of the lime,
The gentle fragrance of love.
2. Liebst du um Schönheit…
If you love beauty, then do not love me!
Love the sun, she has such golden hair!
If you love youth, then do not love me!
Love the spring, which is young every year!
If you love
treasure, then do not love me!
Love the mermaid,
she has many shining pearls!
If you love ‘love’ itself, oh yes, then love me!
Love me always, I will always love you!
3.
Blikke mir nicht in die Lieder
Do not look at my
songs!
I lower my eyes, as
if caught in wicked act.
I cannot even trust
myself to watch their growing.
Do not look at my
songs!
Your curiosity is
betrayal!
Bees, when building
their cells,
They also let no one watch them,
They do not even watch themselves.
When the rich honeycombs are finally brought out,
Only then can you eat them all up.
4. Ich bin der Welt abhanden
gekommen.
I am lost to the world,
Where once I wasted
so much time;
It has heard nothing of me for so long,
It may even believe that I am dead!
It is also nothing to me
That it should consider me
to be dead.
I have also nothing to say
to the contrary,
For really, I am indeed dead to the world.
I am dead to the world's turmoil
And rest in a quiet zone.
I live alone in my heaven,
In my love, in my song.
Wolf:
In dem Schatten meiner Locken
In the shadow of my tresses my sweetheart falls
asleep.
Should I wake him up? Ah no!
I carefully comb my curly locks every morning early,
Yet my efforts are in vain, because the wind dishevels
them again.
My shadowing tresses, wind-disheveled lull my
sweetheart to sleep.
Should I wake him up? Ah no!
I would have to listen to how he suffers, how he
languishes so long,
How they give and take his life away, these rosy cheeks
of mine.
And he calls me his serpent, and yet he falls asleep
beside me.
Should I wake him up? Ah no!
Anakreons Grab Anacreon’s Grave
Here where rose
blooms, where the vine and the laurel entwine,
Where the
turtle-dove calls, where the little cricket is joyful,
Whose grave is
this, that all the Gods with life
Have beautifully
planted and adorned?
It is Anacreon's
resting place.
Spring, summer and
autumn nourished the fortunate poet;
From the winter,
this knoll has at last protected him.
Bescheidene Liebe Modest
Love
I am not like other
girls, who when in love, keep silent
And keeping their
secret mute, they bow their sick little heads.
Oh yes, my love is
not mute,
My talking about
it, I could not give up;
I love indeed quite
particularly.
I am not like other
girls, who when in love, are hopeful,
I wear my love
openly for all the world to see.
Often has my dear
mamma
Found me canoodling
with my sweetheart
I am not like other
girls, indeed I think myself lucky,
For my lover is not
fixed on a wedding ring and marriage
Yet he remains my beloved bridegroom,
He coos so sweetly, he is so gentle,
My lover is my
dove.
© H Kean 2003
Edelweiss Austrian Folksong
(from ‘The Sound
of Music’ by Rodgers & Hammerstein)
Edelweiss, Edelweiss,
Ev’ry morning you greet me.
Small and white,
Clean and bright,
You look happy to meet me.
Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow,
Bloom and grow forever.
Edelweiss, Edelweiss,
Bless my homeland forever.
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