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 Stephan Loges and Sholto Kynoch, click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Heimweh
German source:
Eduard Mörike
Den ich weiter von der Liebsten mache;
Mein Herz, das will nicht weiter mit.
Hier scheint die Sonne kalt ins Land,
Hier deucht mir alles unbekannt,
Sogar die Blumen am Bache!
Hat jede Sache
So fremd eine Miene, so falsch ein Gesicht.
Das Bächlein murmelt wohl und spricht:
„Armer Knabe, komm bei mir vorüber,
Siehst auch hier Vergissmeinnicht!“
– Ja, die sind schön an jedem Ort,
Aber nicht wie dort.
Fort, nur fort!
Die Augen gehn mir über!
Longing for home
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
That takes me further from my love;
My heart’s reluctant to follow me.
Here the sun shines coldly on the land,
Here all seems unfamiliar,
Even the flowers by the brook!
Each thing
Has so foreign a look, so false a face.
The stream, it’s true, murmurs and says:
“Poor boy, come to me,
You’ll see forget-me-nots here too!”
– Yes, they are lovely everywhere,
But not so lovely as those I left.
Onwards, onwards!
My eyes fill with tears!
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Heimweh
German source:
Eduard Mörike
Longing for home
English source:
Richard Stokes
Anders wird die Welt mit jedem Schritt,
The world changes with every step
Den ich weiter von der Liebsten mache;
That takes me further from my love;
Mein Herz, das will nicht weiter mit.
My heart’s reluctant to follow me.
Hier scheint die Sonne kalt ins Land,
Here the sun shines coldly on the land,
Hier deucht mir alles unbekannt,
Here all seems unfamiliar,
Sogar die Blumen am Bache!
Even the flowers by the brook!
Hat jede Sache
Each thing
So fremd eine Miene, so falsch ein Gesicht.
Has so foreign a look, so false a face.
Das Bächlein murmelt wohl und spricht:
The stream, it’s true, murmurs and says:
„Armer Knabe, komm bei mir vorüber,
“Poor boy, come to me,
Siehst auch hier Vergissmeinnicht!“
You’ll see forget-me-nots here too!”
– Ja, die sind schön an jedem Ort,
– Yes, they are lovely everywhere,
Aber nicht wie dort.
But not so lovely as those I left.
Fort, nur fort!
Onwards, onwards!
Die Augen gehn mir über!
My eyes fill with tears!
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…