This song was recorded live at the Oxford Lieder Festival as part of Hugo Wolf: The Complete Songs on Stone Records.
Click here to listen to this song with Mary Bevan and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Abendglöcklein
German source:
Vincenz Zusner
Mir Ruhe zu verkünden;
Nur ich allein mit meiner Pein
Vermag sie nicht zu finden.
Wann läutest du denn mir zur Ruh'
Von deinem Kirchlein droben?
Sei ruhig, Herz! Ein jeder Schmerz
Hört einmal auf zu toben.
Einst wird dich schon des Glöckchens Ton
Mit deiner Qual versöhnen.
Und schweigt der Klang auch noch so lang,
Er muss doch endlich tönen!
The little evening bell
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Announcing peace to me;
Only I, alone with my torment,
Am unable to find such peace.
When will you ring me to rest
From your little church up there?
Be calm, O heart! Every pain
Finally ceases to throb.
The little bell will one day
Finally appease your pain.
And though the bell has long been silent,
It will sound in the end.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Abendglöcklein
German source:
Vincenz Zusner
The little evening bell
English source:
Richard Stokes
Des Glöckleins Schall durchtönt das Tal,
The little bell rings through the valley,
Mir Ruhe zu verkünden;
Announcing peace to me;
Nur ich allein mit meiner Pein
Only I, alone with my torment,
Vermag sie nicht zu finden.
Am unable to find such peace.
Wann läutest du denn mir zur Ruh'
When will you ring me to rest
Von deinem Kirchlein droben?
From your little church up there?
Sei ruhig, Herz! Ein jeder Schmerz
Be calm, O heart! Every pain
Hört einmal auf zu toben.
Finally ceases to throb.
Einst wird dich schon des Glöckchens Ton
The little bell will one day
Mit deiner Qual versöhnen.
Finally appease your pain.
Und schweigt der Klang auch noch so lang,
And though the bell has long been silent,
Er muss doch endlich tönen!
It will sound in the end.
Composer
Hugo Wolf
Hugo Filipp Jakob Wolf was born on 13 March 1860, the fourth of six surviving children, in Windischgraz, Styria, then part of the Austrian Empire. He was taught the piano and violin by his father at an early age and continued to study piano at the…
Poet
Vincenz Zusner
A little-known Austrian lyric poet, Vinzenz Zusner was born in Bischoflacik near Laibach in January 1803 and died in Graz in June 1874. Zusner's poetry appeared in four collections: Gedichte (1842) , Neue Gedichte (1853), Im Walde…