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 Katherine Broderick and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Rückkehr
German source:
Joseph von Eichendorff
Das schön geklungen hat,
Komm’ ich durch Länder viele
Zurück in diese Stadt.
Ich ziehe durch die Gassen,
So finster ist die Nacht
Und alles so verlassen,
Hatt’ ’s anders mir gedacht.
Am Brunnen steh’ ich lange,
Der rauscht fort, wie vorher,
Kommt mancher wohl gegangen,
Es kennt mich keiner mehr.
Da hört ich geigen, pfeifen,
Die Fenster glänzten weit,
Dazwischen drehn und schleifen
Viel’ fremde, fröhliche Leut’.
Und Herz und Sinn mir brannten,
Mich trieb’s in die weite Welt,
Es spielten die Musikanten,
Da fiel ich hin im Feld.
Homecoming
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
That has made such lovely music,
I pass through many lands,
Returning to this town.
I make my way through its streets,
The night is so dark
And all is so deserted,
Different to what I expected.
Long I stand by the fountain
That murmurs away, as in the past,
Many people drift by me,
No one knows me any more.
Then I heard fiddling, piping,
Wide windows were gleaming,
Many happy strangers
Whirl and twirl.
My heart and mind burned within me,
Out into the wide world I went,
The fiddlers played their music,
I fell to the ground in the field.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Rückkehr
German source:
Joseph von Eichendorff
Homecoming
English source:
Richard Stokes
Mit meinem Saitenspiele,
Playing my lute
Das schön geklungen hat,
That has made such lovely music,
Komm’ ich durch Länder viele
I pass through many lands,
Zurück in diese Stadt.
Returning to this town.
Ich ziehe durch die Gassen,
I make my way through its streets,
So finster ist die Nacht
The night is so dark
Und alles so verlassen,
And all is so deserted,
Hatt’ ’s anders mir gedacht.
Different to what I expected.
Am Brunnen steh’ ich lange,
Long I stand by the fountain
Der rauscht fort, wie vorher,
That murmurs away, as in the past,
Kommt mancher wohl gegangen,
Many people drift by me,
Es kennt mich keiner mehr.
No one knows me any more.
Da hört ich geigen, pfeifen,
Then I heard fiddling, piping,
Die Fenster glänzten weit,
Wide windows were gleaming,
Dazwischen drehn und schleifen
Many happy strangers
Viel’ fremde, fröhliche Leut’.
Whirl and twirl.
Und Herz und Sinn mir brannten,
My heart and mind burned within me,
Mich trieb’s in die weite Welt,
Out into the wide world I went,
Es spielten die Musikanten,
The fiddlers played their music,
Da fiel ich hin im Feld.
I fell to the ground in the field.
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
Joseph von Eichendorff
Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff was a German poet, novelist, playwright, literary critic, translator, and anthologist. Eichendorff was one of the major writers and critics of Romanticism. Ever since their publication and up to the present day, some…