Songs

Auch kleine Dinge können uns entzücken

by Hugo Wolf From Italienisches Liederbuch

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This song was recorded live at the Oxford Lieder Festival as part of Hugo Wolf: The Complete Songs on Stone Records.
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Text & Translation

View IPA

Auch kleine Dinge können uns entzücken
German source: Paul Heyse

Auch kleine Dinge können uns entzücken,
Auch kleine Dinge können teuer sein.
Bedenkt, wie gern wir uns mit Perlen schmücken;
Sie werden schwer bezahlt und sind nur klein.
Bedenkt, wie klein ist die Olivenfrucht,
Und wird um ihre Güte doch gesucht.
Denkt an die Rose nur, wie klein sie ist
Und duftet doch so lieblich, wie ihr wisst.

Even small things can delight us,
English translation © Richard Stokes

Even small things can delight us,
Even small things can be precious.
Think how gladly we deck ourselves with pearls;
They fetch a great price but are only small.
Think how small the olive is,
And yet it is prized for its goodness.
Think only of the rose, how small it is,
And yet smells so lovely, as you know.

Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)

Auch kleine Dinge können uns entzücken
German source: Paul Heyse

Even small things can delight us,
English source: Richard Stokes

Auch kleine Dinge können uns entzücken,
Even small things can delight us,
Auch kleine Dinge können teuer sein.
Even small things can be precious.
Bedenkt, wie gern wir uns mit Perlen schmücken;
Think how gladly we deck ourselves with pearls;
Sie werden schwer bezahlt und sind nur klein.
They fetch a great price but are only small.
Bedenkt, wie klein ist die Olivenfrucht,
Think how small the olive is,
Und wird um ihre Güte doch gesucht.
And yet it is prized for its goodness.
Denkt an die Rose nur, wie klein sie ist
Think only of the rose, how small it is,
Und duftet doch so lieblich, wie ihr wisst.
And yet smells so lovely, as you know.

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…

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