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 Mark Stone and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Der Mond hat eine schwere Klag’ erhoben
German source:
Paul Heyse
Und vor dem Herrn die Sache kund gemacht;
Er wolle nicht mehr stehn am Himmel droben,
Du habest ihn um seinen Glanz gebracht.
Als er zuletzt das Sternenheer gezählt,
Da hab es an der vollen Zahl gefehlt;
Zwei von den schönsten habest du entwendet,
Die beiden Augen dort, die mich verblendet.
The moon has raised a grave complaint
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
And made the matter known unto the Lord:
It no longer wants to stay up there in the sky,
For you have robbed it of its radiance.
When last he counted all the stars,
The full number was not complete;
You have purloined two of the loveliest:
Those two eyes that have blinded me.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Der Mond hat eine schwere Klag’ erhoben
German source:
Paul Heyse
The moon has raised a grave complaint
English source:
Richard Stokes
Der Mond hat eine schwere Klag’ erhoben
The moon has raised a grave complaint
Und vor dem Herrn die Sache kund gemacht;
And made the matter known unto the Lord:
Er wolle nicht mehr stehn am Himmel droben,
It no longer wants to stay up there in the sky,
Du habest ihn um seinen Glanz gebracht.
For you have robbed it of its radiance.
Als er zuletzt das Sternenheer gezählt,
When last he counted all the stars,
Da hab es an der vollen Zahl gefehlt;
The full number was not complete;
Zwei von den schönsten habest du entwendet,
You have purloined two of the loveliest:
Die beiden Augen dort, die mich verblendet.
Those two eyes that have blinded me.
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…