Songs

Laue Sommernacht (1910)

Part of a series or song cycle:

Laue Sommernacht

Otto Julius Bierbaum

Laue Sommernacht: am Himmel

Stand kein Stern, im weiten Walde

Suchten wir uns tief im Dunkel,

Und wir fanden uns.

Fanden uns im weiten Walde

In der Nacht, der sternenlosen,

Hielten staunend uns im Arme

In der dunklen Nacht.

War nicht unser ganzes Leben

So ein Tappen, so ein Suchen?

Da: In seine Finsternisse

Liebe, fiel Dein Licht.

Mild summer night

English Translation © Richard Stokes

Mild summer night: in the sky

Not a star, in the deep forest

We sought each other in the dark

And found one another.

Found one another in the deep wood

In the night, the starless night,

And amazed, we embraced

In the dark night.

Our entire life – was it not

Such a tentative quest?

There: into its darkness,

O Love, fell your light.

Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)

Composer

Alma Maria Mahler Gropius Werfel (born Alma Margaretha Maria Schindler; 31 August 1879 – 11 December 1964) was a Viennese-born composer, author, editor and socialite. She composed at least 17 songs for voice and piano. She was married to Gustav Mahler.

Read her full Wikipedia article here.

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