Songs

Nicht länger kann ich singen, denn der Wind

by Hugo Wolf From Italienisches Liederbuch

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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 Mark Stone and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.

Text & Translation

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Nicht länger kann ich singen, denn der Wind
German source: Paul Heyse

Nicht länger kann ich singen, denn der Wind
Weht stark und macht dem Atem was zu schaffen.
Auch fürcht’ ich, dass die Zeit umsonst verrinnt.
Ja wär’ ich sicher, ging’ ich jetzt nicht schlafen.
Ja wüsst’ ich was, würd ich nicht heimspazieren
Und einsam diese schöne Zeit verlieren.

I can sing no more, for the wind
English translation © Richard Stokes

I can sing no more, for the wind
Blows fiercely and makes breathing hard.
I fear too that time slips by in vain.
If I were sure, I should not now go to bed.
If I really knew, I should not walk home
And waste this lovely time in solitude.

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

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

Paul Heyse

Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse was a distinguished German writer and translator. A member of two important literary societies, the Tunnel über der Spree in Berlin and Die Krokodile in Munich, he wrote novels, poetry, 177 short stories, and about sixty…

Performances

Previously performed at:

80. Dangerous Liaisons: Louise Alder, Nikolay Borchev & Sholto Kynoch 26 Oct 2019