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 Nicky Spence and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Der Scholar
German source:
Joseph von Eichendorff
Singen alle Vogelein,
Klatscht der Regen auf die Blätter,
Sing' ich so für mich allein.
Denn mein Aug’ kann nichts entdecken,
Wenn der Blitz auch grausam glüht,
Was im Wandern könnt’ erschrecken
Ein zufriedenes Gemüt.
Frei vom Mammon will ich schreiten
Auf dem Feld der Wissenschaft,
Sinne ernst und nehm’ zu Zeiten
Einen Mund voll Rebensaft.
Bin ich müde vom Studieren,
Wann der Mond tritt sanft herfür,
Pfleg’ ich dann zu musizieren
Vor der Allerschönsten Tür.
The Scholar
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
All the little birds are singing,
When rain rattles on the leaves,
I sing to myself alone.
For my eyes see nothing,
However cruelly lightning flashes,
That could alarm a contented soul
In its wanderings.
Free from Mammon I’ll roam
The field of knowledge,
Think deeply, and at times
Quaff the juice of the grape.
When I’m tired of studying,
When gently the moon climbs the sky,
I’m wont to make music
Before my sweetheart’s door.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Der Scholar
German source:
Joseph von Eichendorff
The Scholar
English source:
Richard Stokes
Bei dem angenehmsten Wetter
In the most pleasant of weathers
Singen alle Vogelein,
All the little birds are singing,
Klatscht der Regen auf die Blätter,
When rain rattles on the leaves,
Sing' ich so für mich allein.
I sing to myself alone.
Denn mein Aug’ kann nichts entdecken,
For my eyes see nothing,
Wenn der Blitz auch grausam glüht,
However cruelly lightning flashes,
Was im Wandern könnt’ erschrecken
That could alarm a contented soul
Ein zufriedenes Gemüt.
In its wanderings.
Frei vom Mammon will ich schreiten
Free from Mammon I’ll roam
Auf dem Feld der Wissenschaft,
The field of knowledge,
Sinne ernst und nehm’ zu Zeiten
Think deeply, and at times
Einen Mund voll Rebensaft.
Quaff the juice of the grape.
Bin ich müde vom Studieren,
When I’m tired of studying,
Wann der Mond tritt sanft herfür,
When gently the moon climbs the sky,
Pfleg’ ich dann zu musizieren
I’m wont to make music
Vor der Allerschönsten Tür.
Before my sweetheart’s door.
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
Joseph von Eichendorff
Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff was a German poet, novelist, playwright, literary critic, translator, and anthologist. Eichendorff was one of the major writers and critics of Romanticism. Ever since their publication and up to the present day, some…