Songs
Blindes Schauen, dunkle Leuchte
by Hugo Wolf From Spanisches Liederbuch: Weltliche Lieder (1890)
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 Benjamin Hulett and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Blindes Schauen, dunkle Leuchte
German source:
Paul Heyse
Ruhm voll Weh, erstorbnes Leben,
Unheil, das ein Heil mir däuchte,
Freud’ges Weinen, Lust voll Beben,
Süsse Galle, durst’ge Feuchte,
Krieg im Frieden allerwegen,
Liebe, falsch versprachst du Segen,
Da dein Fluch den Schlaf mir scheuchte.
Seeing yet blind, shining yet dark
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Glory full of sorrow, life that has died,
Disaster that seemed salvation,
Joyful yet weeping, pleasure full of trembling,
Sweet yet bitter, parched yet moist,
War in peace, everywhere, always,
False, O Love, was your promise of bliss,
Since your curse has deprived me of sleep.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Blindes Schauen, dunkle Leuchte
German source:
Paul Heyse
Seeing yet blind, shining yet dark
English source:
Richard Stokes
Blindes Schauen, dunkle Leuchte,
Seeing yet blind, shining yet dark,
Ruhm voll Weh, erstorbnes Leben,
Glory full of sorrow, life that has died,
Unheil, das ein Heil mir däuchte,
Disaster that seemed salvation,
Freud’ges Weinen, Lust voll Beben,
Joyful yet weeping, pleasure full of trembling,
Süsse Galle, durst’ge Feuchte,
Sweet yet bitter, parched yet moist,
Krieg im Frieden allerwegen,
War in peace, everywhere, always,
Liebe, falsch versprachst du Segen,
False, O Love, was your promise of bliss,
Da dein Fluch den Schlaf mir scheuchte.
Since your curse has deprived me of sleep.
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…