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 Adrian Thompson and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Text & Translation
Beherzigung
German source:
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Ist es besser, ruhig bleiben?
Klammernd fest sich anzuhangen?
Ist es besser, sich zu treiben?
Soll er sich ein Häuschen bauen?
Soll er unter Zelten leben?
Soll er auf die Felsen trauen?
Selbst die festen Felsen beben.
Eines schickt sich nicht für alle;
Sehe jeder, wie er's treibe,
Sehe jeder, wo er bleibe,
Und wer steht, daß er nicht falle!
Take this to heart
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Is it better to remain quiet?
Or hang on, holding tight?
Is it better to press on?
Should he build himself a house?
Should he live in tents?
Should he trust the rocks?
Even solid rocks can quake.
There is no answer fit for all!
Let each man look to himself,
Let each man decide where to dwell,
And he who stands, let him not fall!
Beherzigung
German source:
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Take this to heart
English source:
Richard Stokes
Ach, was soll der Mensch verlangen?
Ah, what should a man desire?
Ist es besser, ruhig bleiben?
Is it better to remain quiet?
Klammernd fest sich anzuhangen?
Or hang on, holding tight?
Ist es besser, sich zu treiben?
Is it better to press on?
Soll er sich ein Häuschen bauen?
Should he build himself a house?
Soll er unter Zelten leben?
Should he live in tents?
Soll er auf die Felsen trauen?
Should he trust the rocks?
Selbst die festen Felsen beben.
Even solid rocks can quake.
Eines schickt sich nicht für alle;
There is no answer fit for all!
Sehe jeder, wie er's treibe,
Let each man look to himself,
Sehe jeder, wo er bleibe,
Let each man decide where to dwell,
Und wer steht, daß er nicht falle!
And he who stands, let him not fall!
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
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang Goethe was a German writer and statesman. His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry written in a variety of metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on…