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 Thomas Hobbs and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Text & Translation
Erster Verlust
(1785)
German source:
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Jene Tage der ersten Liebe,
Ach, wer bringt nur eine Stunde
Jener holden Zeit zurück!
Einsam nähr’ ich meine Wunde,
Und mit stets erneuter Klage
Traur’ ich um’s verlorne Glück.
Ach, wer bringt die schönen Tage,
Jene holde Zeit zurück!
First Loss
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Those days of first love,
Ah, who will bring but one hour back
Of that radiant time!
In my loneliness I feel my wound,
And with ever renewed lament
Mourn the happiness I lost.
Ah, who will bring the fair days back,
That radiant time!
Erster Verlust
(1785)
German source:
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
First Loss
English source:
Richard Stokes
Ach, wer bringt die schönen Tage,
Ah, who will bring the fair days back,
Jene Tage der ersten Liebe,
Those days of first love,
Ach, wer bringt nur eine Stunde
Ah, who will bring but one hour back
Jener holden Zeit zurück!
Of that radiant time!
Einsam nähr’ ich meine Wunde,
In my loneliness I feel my wound,
Und mit stets erneuter Klage
And with ever renewed lament
Traur’ ich um’s verlorne Glück.
Mourn the happiness I lost.
Ach, wer bringt die schönen Tage,
Ah, who will bring the fair days back,
Jene holde Zeit zurück!
That radiant time!
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
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang Goethe was a German writer and statesman. His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry written in a variety of metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on…