This song was recorded on the album 'Robert and Clara Schumann: Rückert Lieder' on Stone Records (in collaboration with BBC Music Magazine). Featuring every piano-accompanied setting of the poet Friedrich Rückert by both Robert and Clara Schumann, including duets and ensembles, it was recorded in preparation for Oxford Lieder's The Schumann Project in 2016.
Click here to listen to this song with Roderick Williams and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Schneeglöckchen
German source:
Joseph von Eichendorff
In dem Garten heute nacht,
Wie wenn laue Lüfte gingen:
‘Süße Glöcklein, nun erwacht,
Denn die warme Zeit wir bringen,
Eh’s noch Jemand hat gedacht,’ –
’S war kein Singen, ’s war ein Küssen,
Rührt die stillen Glöcklein sacht,
Daß sie alle tönen müssen
Von der künft’gen bunten Pracht.
Ach, sie konnten’s nicht erwarten,
Aber weiß vom letzten Schnee
War noch immer Feld und Garten,
Und sie sanken um vor Weh.
So schon manche Dichter streckten
Sangesmüde sich hinab,
Und der Frühling, den sie weckten,
Rauschet über ihrem Grab.
Snowdrop
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
In the garden last night,
As though warm breezes were blowing:
‘Sweet snowdrops, wake up, now,
For we bring the warm days,
Before anyone could guess.’ –
There was no singing but much kissing,
Gently shake your silent bells,
So that they all ring
With the bright splendour soon to be.
Ah, they couldn’t wait,
But field and garden were still
White with the recent snow,
And they wilted with grief.
Thus have many poets laid themselves
Down, weary with singing,
And the Spring, which they awoke,
Rustles above their grave.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Schneeglöckchen
German source:
Joseph von Eichendorff
Snowdrop
English source:
Richard Stokes
’S war doch wie ein leises Singen
There was a soft singing
In dem Garten heute nacht,
In the garden last night,
Wie wenn laue Lüfte gingen:
As though warm breezes were blowing:
‘Süße Glöcklein, nun erwacht,
‘Sweet snowdrops, wake up, now,
Denn die warme Zeit wir bringen,
For we bring the warm days,
Eh’s noch Jemand hat gedacht,’ –
Before anyone could guess.’ –
’S war kein Singen, ’s war ein Küssen,
There was no singing but much kissing,
Rührt die stillen Glöcklein sacht,
Gently shake your silent bells,
Daß sie alle tönen müssen
So that they all ring
Von der künft’gen bunten Pracht.
With the bright splendour soon to be.
Ach, sie konnten’s nicht erwarten,
Ah, they couldn’t wait,
Aber weiß vom letzten Schnee
But field and garden were still
War noch immer Feld und Garten,
White with the recent snow,
Und sie sanken um vor Weh.
And they wilted with grief.
So schon manche Dichter streckten
Thus have many poets laid themselves
Sangesmüde sich hinab,
Down, weary with singing,
Und der Frühling, den sie weckten,
And the Spring, which they awoke,
Rauschet über ihrem Grab.
Rustles above their grave.
Composer
Erich Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austrian-born composer and conductor, and a notable figure in the history of Hollywood as a composer for films. Read more here.
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…