Songs
Liebesfrühling
(1853)
JB 1:53
Liebesfrühling
Dieses Saitenspiel der BrustDas du hast so reich besaitet,Fassen lehre mich die Lust,Himmel! daß du’s mir bereitet.Diese Seele, rein gestimmt,Himmelsnachhall in den Tiefen;Jeder leise Ton verschwimmt,Als ob Engel Engel riefen.Freilich ist das ein Gesang,Aber keiner durch die Kehle,Sondern LiebesüberschwangAus dem Himmel, aus der Seele.Diesem schweigenden GesangMüssen Mienen und Geberden,Blicke, Lächeln, Worte, Sang,Dienend lauter Töne werden.Wach, o feuchter Hauch der Welt,Diese Saiten nie erschlaffen!Doch die Seele, die sie schwellt,Hat auch Kraft, sie neu zu straffen!Ja du bist so hell gestimmt,Wie des Abendsternes Laute,Dem vorbei die Wolke schwimmt,Wie der Gram an dir zerthaute.Diese Harfe Gottes, dieDieß mein Herz mit sich versöhnet,Ihm mit ew’ger MelodieLiebe, Liebe, Liebe tönet!Dieses Psalter, das alleinVorbild sei für Freimunds Leier,Alle Welt zu laden einZu der ew’gen Liebesfeier!Himmel! Gib mir das zum Lohn,Daß mein Lieben, daß mein SingenNie müss’ einen falschen TonIn die reinen Saiten bringen.
Love in springtime
These strings of the breast,That you have so richly strung,Teach me, O heaven,The joy of playing it.This breast, purely tuned,With echoes of heaven in the bass;Every soft tone grows blurred,As if angels were summoning angels.To be sure – that is song,But it does not issue from the throat,Rather does this exuberance of love Come from heaven, from the soul.Expressions and gestures,Looks, smiles, words, gaitMust serve this silent songBy becoming pure sound.Never, o moist breath of the world,Let these strings grow slack!But the soul that they swellAlso has the strength to tighten them anew!Yes, you are as brightly tunedAs the lute of the evening starThat the cloud floats by,As the grief that melted.This harp of God that reconcilesMy heart with itself,Sounding with its eternal melodyLove, love, love!This psalter that alone Is a model for Freimund’s lyre,Inviting every creatureTo the eternal celebration of love!O heaven – reward me with all thisThat my loving, that my singingMight never strike a false noteOn these pure strings.
Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
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Composer
Bedřich Smetana 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer, regarded by many in his homeland as the father of Czech music.
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Poet
Friedrich Rückert was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages.
Rückert was born at Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local Gymnasium and at the universities of Würzburg and Heidelberg. From 1816–1817, he worked on the editorial staff of the Morgenblatt at Stuttgart. Nearly the whole of the year 1818 he spent in Rome, and afterwards he lived for several years at Coburg (1820–1826). Rückert married Luise Wiethaus-Fischer there in 1821. He was appointed a professor of Oriental languages at the University of Erlangen in 1826, and, in 1841, he was called to a similar position in Berlin, where he was also made a privy councillor. In 1849 he resigned his professorship at Berlin, and went to live full-time in his Gut (estate) at Neuses (now a part of Coburg).
When Rückert began his literary career, Germany was engaged in her life-and-death struggle with Napoleon; and in his first volume, Deutsche Gedichte (German Poems), published in 1814 under the pseudonym Freimund Raimar, he gave, particularly in the powerful Geharnischte Sonette (Sonnets in Arms/Harsh Words), vigorous expression to the prevailing sentiment of his countrymen. During 1815 to 1818 appeared Napoleon, eine politische Komödie in drei Stücken (Napoleon, a Political Comedy in Three Parts) of which only two parts were published; and in 1817 Der Kranz der Zeit (The Wreath of Time).
Taken from Wikipedia. To view the full article, please click here.
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Previously performed at:
Liebesfrühling
Love in springtime
If you would like to use our texts and translations, please click here for more information.
Composer
Bedřich Smetana 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer, regarded by many in his homeland as the father of Czech music.
See Full Entry
Poet
Friedrich Rückert was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages.
Rückert was born at Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local Gymnasium and at the universities of Würzburg and Heidelberg. From 1816–1817, he worked on the editorial staff of the Morgenblatt at Stuttgart. Nearly the whole of the year 1818 he spent in Rome, and afterwards he lived for several years at Coburg (1820–1826). Rückert married Luise Wiethaus-Fischer there in 1821. He was appointed a professor of Oriental languages at the University of Erlangen in 1826, and, in 1841, he was called to a similar position in Berlin, where he was also made a privy councillor. In 1849 he resigned his professorship at Berlin, and went to live full-time in his Gut (estate) at Neuses (now a part of Coburg).
When Rückert began his literary career, Germany was engaged in her life-and-death struggle with Napoleon; and in his first volume, Deutsche Gedichte (German Poems), published in 1814 under the pseudonym Freimund Raimar, he gave, particularly in the powerful Geharnischte Sonette (Sonnets in Arms/Harsh Words), vigorous expression to the prevailing sentiment of his countrymen. During 1815 to 1818 appeared Napoleon, eine politische Komödie in drei Stücken (Napoleon, a Political Comedy in Three Parts) of which only two parts were published; and in 1817 Der Kranz der Zeit (The Wreath of Time).
Taken from Wikipedia. To view the full article, please click here.
See Full Entry
Sorry, no further description available.
Previously performed at:
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