Songs
Auf dem Strom
(1828)
D943
Auf dem Strom
Nimm die letzten Abschiedsküsse, Und die wehenden, die Grüsse,Die ich noch ans Ufer sende,Eh’ Dein Fuss sich scheidend wende! Schon wird von des Stromes Wogen Rasch der Nachen fortgezogen,Doch den tränendunklen Blick Zieht die Sehnsucht stets zurück!Und so trägt mich denn die Welle Fort mit unerflehter Schnelle.Ach, schon ist die Flur verschwunden, Wo ich selig Sie gefunden!Ewig hin, ihr Wonnetage! Hoffnungsleer verhallt die Klage Um das schöne Heimatland, Wo ich ihre Liebe fand.Sieh, wie flieht der Strand vorüber, Und wie drängt es mich hinüber, Zieht mit unnennbaren Banden, An der Hütte dort zu landen,In der Laube dort zu weilen; Doch des Stromes Wellen eilen Weiter ohne Rast und Ruh, Führen mich dem Weltmeer zu!Ach, vor jener dunklen Wüste, Fern von jeder heitern Küste,Wo kein Eiland zu erschauen,O, wie fasst mich zitternd Grauen! Wehmutstränen sanft zu bringen, Kann kein Lied vom Ufer dringen; Nur der Sturm weht kalt daher Durch das grau gehobne Meer!Kann des Auges sehnend Schweifen Keine Ufer mehr ergreifen,Nun so schau’ ich zu den Sternen Auf in jenen heil’gen Fernen!Ach, bei ihrem milden Scheine Nannt’ ich sie zuerst die Meine; Dort vielleicht, o tröstend Glück! Dort begegn’ ich ihrem Blick.
On the River
Take these last farewell kisses, and the wafted greetingsthat I send to the shore,before your foot turns to leave. Already the boat is pulled away by the waves’ rapid current; but longing forever draws back my gaze, clouded with tears.And so the waves bear me awaywith relentless speed.Ah, already the meadowswhere, overjoyed, I found her have disappeared. Days of bliss, you are gone for ever!Hopelessly my lament echoes round the fair homeland where I found her love.See how the shore flies past,and how mysterious tiesdraw me acrossto a land by yonder cottage,to linger in yonder arbour.But the river’s waves rush onwards, without respite,bearing me on towards the ocean.Ah, how I tremble with dreadat that dark wilderness,far from every cheerful shore,where no island can be seen!No song can reach me from the shore to bring forth tears of gentle sadness; only the tempest blows coldacross the grey, angry sea.If my wistful, roaming eyescan no longer descry the shore, I shall look up to the starsthere in the sacred distance. Ah! By their gentle radianceI first called her mine;there, perhaps, O consoling fate, there I shall meet her gaze.
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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
Heinrich Friedrich Ludwig Rellstab was a German poet and music critic. He was born and died in Berlin. He was the son of the music publisher and composer Johann Carl Friedrich Rellstab. An able pianist, he published articles in various periodicals, including the influential liberal Vossische Zeitung, and launched the music journal Iris im Gebiete der Tonkunst, which was published in Berlin from 1830 to 1841. His outspoken criticism of the influence in Berlin of Gaspare Spontini landed him in jail in 1837.
Rellstab had considerable influence as a music critic and, because of this, had some power over what music could be used for German nationalistic purposes in the mid-nineteenth century. Because he had "an effective monopoly on music criticism" in Frankfurt and the popularity of his writings, Rellstab's approval would have been important for any musician's career in areas in which German nationalism was present.
The first seven songs of Franz Schubert's Schwanengesang have words by Rellstab, who had left them in 1825 with Beethoven, whose assistant Anton Schindler passed them on to Schubert. His work was also set to music by Franz Liszt.
He is also known to have given Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27/2 its famous nickname Moonlight Sonata.
Taken from Wikipedia. To view the full article, please click here.
See Full Entry
Sorry, no further description available.
Auf dem Strom
On the River
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
Heinrich Friedrich Ludwig Rellstab was a German poet and music critic. He was born and died in Berlin. He was the son of the music publisher and composer Johann Carl Friedrich Rellstab. An able pianist, he published articles in various periodicals, including the influential liberal Vossische Zeitung, and launched the music journal Iris im Gebiete der Tonkunst, which was published in Berlin from 1830 to 1841. His outspoken criticism of the influence in Berlin of Gaspare Spontini landed him in jail in 1837.
Rellstab had considerable influence as a music critic and, because of this, had some power over what music could be used for German nationalistic purposes in the mid-nineteenth century. Because he had "an effective monopoly on music criticism" in Frankfurt and the popularity of his writings, Rellstab's approval would have been important for any musician's career in areas in which German nationalism was present.
The first seven songs of Franz Schubert's Schwanengesang have words by Rellstab, who had left them in 1825 with Beethoven, whose assistant Anton Schindler passed them on to Schubert. His work was also set to music by Franz Liszt.
He is also known to have given Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27/2 its famous nickname Moonlight Sonata.
Taken from Wikipedia. To view the full article, please click here.
See Full Entry
Sorry, no further description available.
About Oxford Lieder
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