Songs

Bei dir ist es traut

by Alma Mahler (Schindler-Mahler) From Fünf Lieder (Mahler, Alma) (1910)

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Text & Translation

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Bei dir ist es traut
German source: Rainer Maria Rilke

Bei dir ist es traut:
Zage Uhren schlagen
wie aus weiten Tagen.
Komm mir ein Liebes sagen -
aber nur nicht laut.

Ein Tor geht irgendwo
draussen im Blütentreiben.
Der Abend horcht an den Scheiben.
Lass uns leise bleiben:
Keiner weiss uns so.

I feel warm and close with you
English translation © Richard Stokes

I feel warm and close with you:
clocks strike hesitantly,
like they did in distant days.
Say something loving to me -
but not aloud.

A gate opens somewhere
out in the burgeoning.
Evening listens at the window-panes.
Let us stay quiet,
no one knows us thus.

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

Bei dir ist es traut
German source: Rainer Maria Rilke

I feel warm and close with you
English source: Richard Stokes

Bei dir ist es traut:
I feel warm and close with you:
Zage Uhren schlagen
clocks strike hesitantly,
wie aus weiten Tagen.
like they did in distant days.
Komm mir ein Liebes sagen -
Say something loving to me -
aber nur nicht laut.
but not aloud.

Ein Tor geht irgendwo
A gate opens somewhere
draussen im Blütentreiben.
out in the burgeoning.
Der Abend horcht an den Scheiben.
Evening listens at the window-panes.
Lass uns leise bleiben:
Let us stay quiet,
Keiner weiss uns so.
no one knows us thus.

Composer

Alma Mahler (Schindler-Mahler)

Alma Schindler (1879-1964) was born in Vienna into an artistic inclined family. As a child, her musical gifts were encouraged to some extent with piano and composition lessons, including with Alexander Zemlinsky, although in 1898 her father vetoed…

Poet

Rainer Maria Rilke

René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist. He is "widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets".He…

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