Songs
Abschied von der Harfe
(1816)
D406
Abschied von der Harfe
Noch einmal tön’, o Harfe, Die nur Gefühle tönt! Verhalle zart und leise Noch jene Schwanenweise, Die auf der Flut des Lebens Uns mit der Not versöhnt.Im Morgenschein des Lebens Erklangst du rein und hell!Wer kann den Klang verwahren? Durch Forschen und Erfahren Verhallet’ und versiegetDes Liedes reiner Quell.In spätern JugendjahrenHallt es schon zart und bang,Wie Finkenschlag im Märze;Mit des Entknospens SchmerzeErbeben Herz und SaitenVoll Liebe und Gesang!Am Sommertag des LebensVerstummt das Saitenspiel!Aus sehnsuchtsvoller SeeleLockt's noch, wie Philomele,Schon selt'ner, aber rührendNur Schwermut und Gefühl.O schlag’ im dunklen BusenDer ernsten Abendzeit!Will um das öde LebenDes Schicksals Nacht sich weben, Dann schlag’ und wecke Sehnsucht Nach der Unsterblichkeit!
Farewell to the Harp
Sound once more, O harp; you express only emotion! Softly, tenderly,let that swansong fade away which in the flood of life reconciles us to our misery.In the dawn of lifeyou resounded, pure and bright! Who can preserve that sound?With our searchings, our experience, the pure source of your songfades and runs dry.In later youthIt sounds tender and anxious,Like the finch’s song in March;With the pain of budding growthThe heart and the strings quiver,Filled with love and song.In the summertime of lifeThe strings fall silent.From a yearning soulThey still call, like the nightingale,More rarely now, yet touching us,All melancholy and tenderness.O sound in the dark heartof solemn eventide!When the darkness of fate would spin its web around life’s barrenness,then sound forth, and awaken longingfor immortality!
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Composer
Franz Peter Schubert was an late Classical and early Romantic composer. He produced a vast oeuvre during his short life, composing more the 600 vocal works (largely Lieder), and well as several symphonies, operas, and a large body of piano music. He was uncommonly gifted from a young age, but appreciation of his music was limited during his lifetime. His work became more popular in the decades after his death, and was praised by 19th century composers, including Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, and Liszt.
Information from Wikipedia. Read more here.
See Full Entry
Poet
Johann Gaudenz Gubert Graf (& Freiherr) von Salis-Seewis was Swiss poet.
Salis-Seewis came from an old Swiss aristocracy. His father, baron Johann Ulrich von Salis-Seewis (1740–1815), was created a (primogenitive) Comte (count) at Versailles on 1 February 1777 having married Freiin Jakobea von Salis-Bothmar (1741–1791) in 1760. The Reichs-freiherrdom dated back to 20 January 1588, for Dietegan v. Salis.
Between 1779 and 1789 Salis served as an officer in the Swiss Guards in France in Paris, France, until the French revolution made him quit. Salis-Seewis was one of the favourites of Marie Antoinette. In the next year Salis-Seewis undertook a journey to the Netherlands and Germany (including Weimar), meeting Goethe, Herder, Schiller, Wieland, and Matthisson. He particularly connected with Matthisson, and an intimate friendship developed.
The poet colleagues shared a sense of Sturm und Drang and empathy, calling it the ""Bündner Nachtigall" (Graubünden nightingale). Salis-Seewis returned to Switzerland in 1791, living in Chur and marrying there, on 26 December 1793, the 22-year-old Ursina v. Pestalozzi (Chur 29 September 1771 - Malans 27 June 1835). They had two sons; Johann-Ulrich Dietegan (Comte) v. Salis-Seewis (1794–1844) and Johann-Jakob (Freiherr) v. Salis-Seewis (1800–1881). He had a lively involvement in the political changes in his homeland over the next years lively involved, endorsed the alliance of the Three Leagues of Switzerland to the new France, and the proclaimed Helvetic Republic. After the area was occupied by Austria in the following year, Salis-Seewis and his family had to flee to Zurich. There, he was appointed inspector general of the Helvetican troops. This activity brought him the nickname "poet general". He later went to Bern and received a place on the Court of cassation. When the Act of Mediation was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803, it became possible for Salis-Seewis to return to Graubünden. There he held several public offices until 1817, then he withdrew as Swiss federal colonel. His father had died two years before.
Taken from Wikipedia. To view the full article, please click here.
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Sorry, no further description available.
Abschied von der Harfe
Farewell to the Harp
If you would like to use our texts and translations, please click here for more information.
Composer
Franz Peter Schubert was an late Classical and early Romantic composer. He produced a vast oeuvre during his short life, composing more the 600 vocal works (largely Lieder), and well as several symphonies, operas, and a large body of piano music. He was uncommonly gifted from a young age, but appreciation of his music was limited during his lifetime. His work became more popular in the decades after his death, and was praised by 19th century composers, including Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, and Liszt.
Information from Wikipedia. Read more here.
See Full Entry
Poet
Johann Gaudenz Gubert Graf (& Freiherr) von Salis-Seewis was Swiss poet.
Salis-Seewis came from an old Swiss aristocracy. His father, baron Johann Ulrich von Salis-Seewis (1740–1815), was created a (primogenitive) Comte (count) at Versailles on 1 February 1777 having married Freiin Jakobea von Salis-Bothmar (1741–1791) in 1760. The Reichs-freiherrdom dated back to 20 January 1588, for Dietegan v. Salis.
Between 1779 and 1789 Salis served as an officer in the Swiss Guards in France in Paris, France, until the French revolution made him quit. Salis-Seewis was one of the favourites of Marie Antoinette. In the next year Salis-Seewis undertook a journey to the Netherlands and Germany (including Weimar), meeting Goethe, Herder, Schiller, Wieland, and Matthisson. He particularly connected with Matthisson, and an intimate friendship developed.
The poet colleagues shared a sense of Sturm und Drang and empathy, calling it the ""Bündner Nachtigall" (Graubünden nightingale). Salis-Seewis returned to Switzerland in 1791, living in Chur and marrying there, on 26 December 1793, the 22-year-old Ursina v. Pestalozzi (Chur 29 September 1771 - Malans 27 June 1835). They had two sons; Johann-Ulrich Dietegan (Comte) v. Salis-Seewis (1794–1844) and Johann-Jakob (Freiherr) v. Salis-Seewis (1800–1881). He had a lively involvement in the political changes in his homeland over the next years lively involved, endorsed the alliance of the Three Leagues of Switzerland to the new France, and the proclaimed Helvetic Republic. After the area was occupied by Austria in the following year, Salis-Seewis and his family had to flee to Zurich. There, he was appointed inspector general of the Helvetican troops. This activity brought him the nickname "poet general". He later went to Bern and received a place on the Court of cassation. When the Act of Mediation was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803, it became possible for Salis-Seewis to return to Graubünden. There he held several public offices until 1817, then he withdrew as Swiss federal colonel. His father had died two years before.
Taken from Wikipedia. To view the full article, please click here.
See Full Entry
Sorry, no further description available.
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