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 Geraldine McGreevy and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
O wär’ dein Haus durchsichtig wie ein Glas
German source:
Paul Heyse
Mein Holder, wenn ich mich vorüberstehle!
Dann säh’ ich drinnen dich ohn’ Unterlass,
Wie blickt’ ich dann nach dir mit ganzer Seele!
Wie viele Blicke schickte mir dein Herz,
Mehr als da Tropfen hat der Fluss im März!
Wie viele Blicke schickt’ ich dir entgegen,
Mehr als da Tropfen niedersprühn im Regen!
If only your house were transparent like glass
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
My love, when I steal past!
Then I would always see you within,
How I would gaze at you with all my soul!
How many looks my heart would send you,
More than the river in March has drops!
How many looks I would send you,
More than the drops that shower down in rain!
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
O wär’ dein Haus durchsichtig wie ein Glas
German source:
Paul Heyse
If only your house were transparent like glass
English source:
Richard Stokes
O wär’ dein Haus durchsichtig wie ein Glas,
If only your house were transparent like glass,
Mein Holder, wenn ich mich vorüberstehle!
My love, when I steal past!
Dann säh’ ich drinnen dich ohn’ Unterlass,
Then I would always see you within,
Wie blickt’ ich dann nach dir mit ganzer Seele!
How I would gaze at you with all my soul!
Wie viele Blicke schickte mir dein Herz,
How many looks my heart would send you,
Mehr als da Tropfen hat der Fluss im März!
More than the river in March has drops!
Wie viele Blicke schickt’ ich dir entgegen,
How many looks I would send you,
Mehr als da Tropfen niedersprühn im Regen!
More than the drops that shower down in rain!
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…