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Laue Sommernacht
German source: Otto Julius Bierbaum

Laue Sommernacht: am Himmel
Stand kein Stern, im weiten Walde
Suchten wir uns tief im Dunkel,
Und wir fanden uns.

Fanden uns im weiten Walde
In der Nacht, der sternenlosen,
Hielten staunend uns im Arme
In der dunklen Nacht.

War nicht unser ganzes Leben
So ein Tappen, so ein Suchen?
Da: In seine Finsternisse
Liebe, fiel Dein Licht.

Mild summer night
English translation © Richard Stokes

Mild summer night: in the sky
Not a star, in the deep forest
We sought each other in the dark
And found one another.

Found one another in the deep wood
In the night, the starless night,
And amazed, we embraced
In the dark night.

Our entire life – was it not
Such a tentative quest?
There: into its darkness,
O Love, fell your light.

Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)

Laue Sommernacht
German source: Otto Julius Bierbaum

Mild summer night
English source: Richard Stokes

Laue Sommernacht: am Himmel
Mild summer night: in the sky
Stand kein Stern, im weiten Walde
Not a star, in the deep forest
Suchten wir uns tief im Dunkel,
We sought each other in the dark
Und wir fanden uns.
And found one another.

Fanden uns im weiten Walde
Found one another in the deep wood
In der Nacht, der sternenlosen,
In the night, the starless night,
Hielten staunend uns im Arme
And amazed, we embraced
In der dunklen Nacht.
In the dark night.

War nicht unser ganzes Leben
Our entire life – was it not
So ein Tappen, so ein Suchen?
Such a tentative quest?
Da: In seine Finsternisse
There: into its darkness,
Liebe, fiel Dein Licht.
O Love, fell your light.

Composer

Alma Mahler (Schindler-Mahler)

Alma Schindler (1879-1964) was born in Vienna into an artistic inclined family. As a child, her musical gifts were encouraged to some extent with piano and composition lessons, including with Alexander Zemlinsky, although in 1898 her father vetoed…

Poet

Otto Julius Bierbaum

Otto Julius Bierbaum was a German writer.

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