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 Marcus Farnsworth and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Herbst
German source:
Nikolaus Lenau
Den Wald durchbraust des Scheidens Weh,
Den Lenz und seine Nachtigallen
Verträumt’ ich auf der wüsten See.
Der Himmel schien so mild, so helle,
Verloren ging sein warmes Licht;
Es blühte nicht die Meereswelle,
Die rohen Winde sangen nicht.
Und mir verging die Jugend traurig,
Des Frühlings Wonne blieb versäumt;
Der Herbst durchweht mich trennungsschaurig,
Mein Herz dem Tod entgegenträumt.
Autumn
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
The ache of parting soughs through the wood,
Spring and its nightingales I dreamt away,
As I sailed on the desolate sea.
The heavens seemed so mellow, so clear,
Their warm light has vanished;
The ocean waves did not blossom,
The biting winds did not sing.
And my youth passed sadly by,
The joys of spring were not tasted;
Autumn pierces me with a parting shudder,
My heart dreams on towards death.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Herbst
German source:
Nikolaus Lenau
Autumn
English source:
Richard Stokes
Nun ist es Herbst, die Blätter fallen,
Autumn is come, the leaves are falling,
Den Wald durchbraust des Scheidens Weh,
The ache of parting soughs through the wood,
Den Lenz und seine Nachtigallen
Spring and its nightingales I dreamt away,
Verträumt’ ich auf der wüsten See.
As I sailed on the desolate sea.
Der Himmel schien so mild, so helle,
The heavens seemed so mellow, so clear,
Verloren ging sein warmes Licht;
Their warm light has vanished;
Es blühte nicht die Meereswelle,
The ocean waves did not blossom,
Die rohen Winde sangen nicht.
The biting winds did not sing.
Und mir verging die Jugend traurig,
And my youth passed sadly by,
Des Frühlings Wonne blieb versäumt;
The joys of spring were not tasted;
Der Herbst durchweht mich trennungsschaurig,
Autumn pierces me with a parting shudder,
Mein Herz dem Tod entgegenträumt.
My heart dreams on towards death.
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
Nikolaus Lenau
Nikolaus Lenau was the nom de plume of Nikolaus Franz Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau, a German-language Austrian poet. He was born at Schadat, now Lenauheim, Romania, then in Hungary. His father, a Habsburg government official, died in 1807 in…