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 David Stout and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Heimweh
German source:
Joseph von Eichendorff
Der muss mit der Liebsten gehn,
Es jubeln und lassen die andern
Den Fremden alleine stehn.
Was wisset ihr, dunkle Wipfel,
Von der alten, schönen Zeit?
Ach, die Heimat hinter den Gipfeln,
Wie liegt sie von hier so weit?
Am liebsten betracht’ ich die Sterne,
Die schienen, wie ich ging zu ihr,
Die Nachtigall hör’ ich so gerne,
Sie sang vor der Liebsten Tür.
Der Morgen, das ist meine Freude!
Da steig’ ich in stiller Stund’
Auf den höchsten Berg in die Weite,
Grüss dich, Deutschland, aus Herzensgrund!
Homesickness
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Must go with his beloved,
Others, in their joy, leave
The stranger all alone.
What do you know, dark summits,
Of these happy days now past?
Ah, my homeland beyond the mountains,
How far it lies from here.
I love best to watch the stars
That shone as I went to her,
I love to hear the nightingale
That sang at my loved one’s door.
The morning is my delight!
At that peaceful hour I climb
The highest mountain far and wide,
And greet you, Germany, from the depth of my heart!
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Heimweh
German source:
Joseph von Eichendorff
Homesickness
English source:
Richard Stokes
Wer in die Fremde will wandern,
He who would journey abroad
Der muss mit der Liebsten gehn,
Must go with his beloved,
Es jubeln und lassen die andern
Others, in their joy, leave
Den Fremden alleine stehn.
The stranger all alone.
Was wisset ihr, dunkle Wipfel,
What do you know, dark summits,
Von der alten, schönen Zeit?
Of these happy days now past?
Ach, die Heimat hinter den Gipfeln,
Ah, my homeland beyond the mountains,
Wie liegt sie von hier so weit?
How far it lies from here.
Am liebsten betracht’ ich die Sterne,
I love best to watch the stars
Die schienen, wie ich ging zu ihr,
That shone as I went to her,
Die Nachtigall hör’ ich so gerne,
I love to hear the nightingale
Sie sang vor der Liebsten Tür.
That sang at my loved one’s door.
Der Morgen, das ist meine Freude!
The morning is my delight!
Da steig’ ich in stiller Stund’
At that peaceful hour I climb
Auf den höchsten Berg in die Weite,
The highest mountain far and wide,
Grüss dich, Deutschland, aus Herzensgrund!
And greet you, Germany, from the depth of my heart!
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
Joseph von Eichendorff
Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff was a German poet, novelist, playwright, literary critic, translator, and anthologist. Eichendorff was one of the major writers and critics of Romanticism. Ever since their publication and up to the present day, some…