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 Marcus Farnsworth and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Ach, im Maien war’s
German source:
Paul Heyse
Wo die warmen Lüfte wehen,
Wo verliebte Leute pflegen
Ihren Liebchen nachzugehn.
Ich allein, ich armer Trauriger,
Lieg’ im Kerker so verschmachtet,
Und ich seh nicht, wann es taget,
Und ich weiss nicht, wann es nachtet.
Nur an einem Vöglein merkt’ ich’s,
Das dadrauss im Maien sang;
Das hat mir ein Schütz getötet –
Geb’ ihm Gott den schlimmsten Dank!
Ah, in May it was
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
When warm breezes blow,
When those in love are wont
To seek their loves.
I alone, sad wretch,
Languish in a dungeon cell,
And cannot tell when day dawns,
And cannot tell when night falls.
Only one little bird could tell me,
That sang out there in May;
A hunter killed it –
May God give him the worst of rewards!
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Ach, im Maien war’s
German source:
Paul Heyse
Ah, in May it was
English source:
Richard Stokes
Ach, im Maien war’s, im Maien,
Ah, in May it was, in Maytime,
Wo die warmen Lüfte wehen,
When warm breezes blow,
Wo verliebte Leute pflegen
When those in love are wont
Ihren Liebchen nachzugehn.
To seek their loves.
Ich allein, ich armer Trauriger,
I alone, sad wretch,
Lieg’ im Kerker so verschmachtet,
Languish in a dungeon cell,
Und ich seh nicht, wann es taget,
And cannot tell when day dawns,
Und ich weiss nicht, wann es nachtet.
And cannot tell when night falls.
Nur an einem Vöglein merkt’ ich’s,
Only one little bird could tell me,
Das dadrauss im Maien sang;
That sang out there in May;
Das hat mir ein Schütz getötet –
A hunter killed it –
Geb’ ihm Gott den schlimmsten Dank!
May God give him the worst of rewards!
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
Paul Heyse
Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse was a distinguished German writer and translator. A member of two important literary societies, the Tunnel über der Spree in Berlin and Die Krokodile in Munich, he wrote novels, poetry, 177 short stories, and about sixty…