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 Anna Grevelius and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Agnes
German source:
Eduard Mörike
Schnell vorbei
Bist du doch gegangen!
Wär mein Lieb nur blieben treu,
Blieben treu,
Sollte mir nicht bangen.
Um die Ernte wohlgemut,
Wohlgemut,
Schnitterinnen singen.
Aber ach! mir kranken Blut,
Mir kranken Blut
Will nichts mehr gelingen.
Schleiche so durchs Wiesental,
So durchs Tal,
Als im Traum verloren,
Nach dem Berg, da tausendmal,
Tausendmal
Er mir Treu geschworen.
Oben auf des Hügels Rand,
Abgewandt,
Wein ich bei der Linde;
An dem Hut mein Rosenband,
Von seiner Hand,
Spielet in dem Winde.
Agnes
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Swiftly by
You have sped!
Had my love but stayed true,
Stayed true,
I should feel no fear.
Joyously at harvest-time,
Joyously,
Reaping women sing.
But ah! I’m sick,
Sick at heart
I fail at everything.
So I steal through the meadow vale,
Meadow vale,
As if lost in dreams,
Up to the hill where a thousand times,
Thousand times,
He promised to be true.
Up there on the hillside,
Turning away,
I weep by the lime-tree;
On my hat the rosy ribbon,
A gift from him,
Flutters in the wind.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Agnes
German source:
Eduard Mörike
Agnes
English source:
Richard Stokes
Rosenzeit! Wie schnell vorbei,
Time of roses! How swiftly by,
Schnell vorbei
Swiftly by
Bist du doch gegangen!
You have sped!
Wär mein Lieb nur blieben treu,
Had my love but stayed true,
Blieben treu,
Stayed true,
Sollte mir nicht bangen.
I should feel no fear.
Um die Ernte wohlgemut,
Joyously at harvest-time,
Wohlgemut,
Joyously,
Schnitterinnen singen.
Reaping women sing.
Aber ach! mir kranken Blut,
But ah! I’m sick,
Mir kranken Blut
Sick at heart
Will nichts mehr gelingen.
I fail at everything.
Schleiche so durchs Wiesental,
So I steal through the meadow vale,
So durchs Tal,
Meadow vale,
Als im Traum verloren,
As if lost in dreams,
Nach dem Berg, da tausendmal,
Up to the hill where a thousand times,
Tausendmal
Thousand times,
Er mir Treu geschworen.
He promised to be true.
Oben auf des Hügels Rand,
Up there on the hillside,
Abgewandt,
Turning away,
Wein ich bei der Linde;
I weep by the lime-tree;
An dem Hut mein Rosenband,
On my hat the rosy ribbon,
Von seiner Hand,
A gift from him,
Spielet in dem Winde.
Flutters in the wind.
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
Eduard Mörike
Eduard Friedrich Mörike was a German Romantic poet. Mörike was born in Ludwigsburg. His father was Karl Friedrich Mörike (d. 1817), a district medical councilor; his mother was Charlotte Bayer. He attended the Latin school at Ludwigsburg, and the…