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 Sophie Daneman and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Frage und Antwort
German source:
Eduard Mörike
Liebe mir zum Herzen kam,
Und warum ich ihr nicht lange
Schon den bittern Stachel nahm?
Sprich, warum mit Geisterschnelle
Wohl der Wind die Flügel rührt,
Und woher die süsse Quelle
Die verborgnen Wasser führt?
Banne du auf seiner Fährte
Mir den Wind in vollem Lauf!
Halte mit der Zaubergerte
Du die süssen Quellen auf!
Question and answer
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
This timid love that entered my heart,
And why I did not long ago
Draw its bitter sting?
Tell me, why with ghostly speed
The wind whirrs its wings,
And from where the sweet spring
Draws its hidden waters?
You might as well try to halt
The wind in full career!
Or conjure with a magic wand
The sweet springs to be still!
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Frage und Antwort
German source:
Eduard Mörike
Question and answer
English source:
Richard Stokes
Fragst du mich, woher die bange
You ask me where it came from,
Liebe mir zum Herzen kam,
This timid love that entered my heart,
Und warum ich ihr nicht lange
And why I did not long ago
Schon den bittern Stachel nahm?
Draw its bitter sting?
Sprich, warum mit Geisterschnelle
Tell me, why with ghostly speed
Wohl der Wind die Flügel rührt,
The wind whirrs its wings,
Und woher die süsse Quelle
And from where the sweet spring
Die verborgnen Wasser führt?
Draws its hidden waters?
Banne du auf seiner Fährte
You might as well try to halt
Mir den Wind in vollem Lauf!
The wind in full career!
Halte mit der Zaubergerte
Or conjure with a magic wand
Du die süssen Quellen auf!
The sweet springs to be still!
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
Eduard Mörike
Eduard Friedrich Mörike was a German Romantic poet. Mörike was born in Ludwigsburg. His father was Karl Friedrich Mörike (d. 1817), a district medical councilor; his mother was Charlotte Bayer. He attended the Latin school at Ludwigsburg, and the…