Songs

Wie Melodien (1886) Op. 105 no.1

Part of a series or song cycle:

Wie Melodien

Klaus Groth

Wie Melodien zieht es

Mir leise durch den Sinn,

Wie Frühlingsblumen blüht es

Und schwebt wie Duft dahin.

Doch kommt das Wort und faßt es

Und führt es vor das Aug’,

Wie Nebelgrau erblaßt es

Und schwindet wie ein Hauch.

Und dennoch ruht im Reime

Verborgen wohl ein Duft,

Den mild aus stillem Keime

Ein feuchtes Auge ruft.

Like Melodies

English Translation © Richard Stokes

Thoughts, like melodies,

Steal softly through my mind,

Like spring flowers they blossom

And drift away like fragrance.

Yet when words come and capture them

And bring them before my eyes,

They turn pale like grey mist

And vanish like a breath.

Yet surely in rhyme

A fragrance lies hidden,

Summoned by moist eyes

From the silent seed.

Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)

Composer

Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna.

Brahms has been considered, by his contemporaries and by later writers, as both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters. While many contemporaries found his music too academic, his contribution and craftsmanship have been admired by many.

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