Songs
Des Sennen Abschied
by Robert Schumann From Lieder-Album für die Jugend (1849) Op. 79 21.iv–13.v.1849
This song was recorded live in The Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda’s College as part of the Oxford Lieder Festival in 2006.
Click here to listen to this song performed by Sophie Daneman and Julius Drake.
Des Sennen Abschied
German source:
Friedrich von Schiller
Ihr sonnigen Weiden!
Der Senne muß scheiden,
Der Sommer ist hin.
Wir fahren zu Berg, wir kommen wieder,
Wenn der Kuckuck ruft, wenn erwachen die Lieder,
Wenn mit Blumen die Erde sich kleidet neu,
Wenn die Brünnlein fließen im lieblichen Mai.
Ihr Matten, lebt wohl,
Ihr sonnigen Weiden!
Der Senne muß scheiden,
Der Sommer ist hin.
The Alpine Herdsman's Farewell
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
You sunny pastures!
The herdsman must leave you,
Summer is over.
We’ll return to the mountains, we’ll come again,
When the cuckoo calls, when songs awaken,
When the earth is freshly clothed with flowers,
When the brooklets are flowing in lovely May.
Farewell, you meadows,
You sunny pastures!
The herdsman must leave you,
Summer is over.
Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Des Sennen Abschied
German source:
Friedrich von Schiller
The Alpine Herdsman's Farewell
English source:
Richard Stokes
Ihr Matten, lebt wohl,
Farewell, you meadows,
Ihr sonnigen Weiden!
You sunny pastures!
Der Senne muß scheiden,
The herdsman must leave you,
Der Sommer ist hin.
Summer is over.
Wir fahren zu Berg, wir kommen wieder,
We’ll return to the mountains, we’ll come again,
Wenn der Kuckuck ruft, wenn erwachen die Lieder,
When the cuckoo calls, when songs awaken,
Wenn mit Blumen die Erde sich kleidet neu,
When the earth is freshly clothed with flowers,
Wenn die Brünnlein fließen im lieblichen Mai.
When the brooklets are flowing in lovely May.
Ihr Matten, lebt wohl,
Farewell, you meadows,
Ihr sonnigen Weiden!
You sunny pastures!
Der Senne muß scheiden,
The herdsman must leave you,
Der Sommer ist hin.
Summer is over.
Composer
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. He had been assured…
Poet
Friedrich von Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, physician, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with the already…