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.
O wüsstest du, wie viel ich deinetwegen
German source:
Paul Heyse
Du falsche Renegatin, litt zur Nacht,
Indes du im verschlossnen Haus gelegen
Und ich die Zeit im Freien zugebracht.
Als Rosenwasser diente mir der Regen,
Der Blitz hat Liebesbotschaft mir gebracht;
Ich habe Würfel mit dem Sturm gespielt,
Als unter deinem Dach ich Wache hielt.
Mein Bett war unter deinem Dach bereitet,
Der Himmel lag als Decke drauf gebreitet,
Die Schwelle deiner Tür, das war mein Kissen –
Ich Ärmster, ach, was hab’ ich ausstehn müssen!
Ah, if only you knew how much for you
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
False traitress, I have suffered tonight,
While you lay in your locked house
And I have spent the time outside.
The rain served me for rose-water,
The lightning brought tidings of love;
I played dice with the storm,
While keeping watch beneath your eaves.
My bed was laid beneath your eaves,
With the sky spread out as my blanket,
The threshold of your door was my pillow –
How much I’ve had to suffer, poor wretch!
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
O wüsstest du, wie viel ich deinetwegen
German source:
Paul Heyse
Ah, if only you knew how much for you
English source:
Richard Stokes
O wüsstest du, wie viel ich deinetwegen,
Ah, if only you knew how much for you,
Du falsche Renegatin, litt zur Nacht,
False traitress, I have suffered tonight,
Indes du im verschlossnen Haus gelegen
While you lay in your locked house
Und ich die Zeit im Freien zugebracht.
And I have spent the time outside.
Als Rosenwasser diente mir der Regen,
The rain served me for rose-water,
Der Blitz hat Liebesbotschaft mir gebracht;
The lightning brought tidings of love;
Ich habe Würfel mit dem Sturm gespielt,
I played dice with the storm,
Als unter deinem Dach ich Wache hielt.
While keeping watch beneath your eaves.
Mein Bett war unter deinem Dach bereitet,
My bed was laid beneath your eaves,
Der Himmel lag als Decke drauf gebreitet,
With the sky spread out as my blanket,
Die Schwelle deiner Tür, das war mein Kissen –
The threshold of your door was my pillow –
Ich Ärmster, ach, was hab’ ich ausstehn müssen!
How much I’ve had to suffer, poor wretch!
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…