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 Neal Davies and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Harfenspieler II
German source:
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Still und sittsam will ich stehn;
Fromme Hand wird Nahrung reichen,
Und ich werde weitergehn.
Jeder wird sich glücklich scheinen,
Wenn mein Bild vor ihm erscheint;
Eine Träne wird er weinen,
Und ich weiss nicht, was er weint.
The Harper II
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Quiet and humble will I stand,
A pious hand will pass food,
And I shall go on my way.
Each will think himself happy,
Seeing me before him,
A tear will he weep,
And I shall not know why.
Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Harfenspieler II
German source:
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The Harper II
English source:
Richard Stokes
An die Türen will ich schleichen,
From door to door will I steal,
Still und sittsam will ich stehn;
Quiet and humble will I stand,
Fromme Hand wird Nahrung reichen,
A pious hand will pass food,
Und ich werde weitergehn.
And I shall go on my way.
Jeder wird sich glücklich scheinen,
Each will think himself happy,
Wenn mein Bild vor ihm erscheint;
Seeing me before him,
Eine Träne wird er weinen,
A tear will he weep,
Und ich weiss nicht, was er weint.
And I shall not know why.
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…