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 William Berger and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Text & Translation
Sehnsucht
German source:
Johann Heinrich Voss
Aus dem Fruchthain, wo der Maiduft dich umwallt,
Wie ein Grablied dein Gesang mir
Durch die Dämmrung sich ergießt?
Es umschwebt mich in der Dämmrung die Gestalt,
Die im Nachttraum und des Tags Traum mir erscheint;
Ich vernehm', ach! wie sie aufseufzt,
Und das Thränlein ihr entschleicht.
O mein Schutzgeist, wo mit Wehmuth den Gesang
Philomela's in dem Maiduft sie behorcht,
Da erschein' ihr in der Dämmrung,
Wie dein Freund, bleich und bethränt!
Is it pity, Philomena, that makes your song
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Break forth fearfully from the orchard,
Where the scents of May surround you,
Like a dirge through the dusk?
Her figure, looming before me
as I dream by day and night,
Hovers around me in the dusk;
I hear, alas, how she sighs,
And I see her flowing tears.
O my guardian angel, when she listens sadly
To Philomela’s song in the scents of May,
May she perceive in the dusk
How your pale friend weeps!
Sehnsucht
German source:
Johann Heinrich Voss
Is it pity, Philomena, that makes your song
English source:
Richard Stokes
Ist es Mitleid, Philomela, daß so bang'
Is it pity, Philomena, that makes your song
Aus dem Fruchthain, wo der Maiduft dich umwallt,
Break forth fearfully from the orchard,
Wie ein Grablied dein Gesang mir
Where the scents of May surround you,
Durch die Dämmrung sich ergießt?
Like a dirge through the dusk?
Her figure, looming before me
Es umschwebt mich in der Dämmrung die Gestalt,
as I dream by day and night,
Die im Nachttraum und des Tags Traum mir erscheint;
Hovers around me in the dusk;
Ich vernehm', ach! wie sie aufseufzt,
I hear, alas, how she sighs,
Und das Thränlein ihr entschleicht.
And I see her flowing tears.
O my guardian angel, when she listens sadly
O mein Schutzgeist, wo mit Wehmuth den Gesang
To Philomela’s song in the scents of May,
Philomela's in dem Maiduft sie behorcht,
May she perceive in the dusk
Da erschein' ihr in der Dämmrung,
How your pale friend weeps!
Wie dein Freund, bleich und bethränt!
Composer
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel
Fanny Hensel, née Mendelssohn (1805-47), was an exceptionally gifted musician whose potential was stifled by the gendered social conventions of her upper-middle-class background in mid-19th-century Berlin. She came from a wealthy and cultivated…
Poet
Johann Heinrich Voss
Johann Heinrich Voss (20 February 1751 – 29 March 1826) was a German classicist and poet, well-known for his translation of Homer's Odyssey (1781) and Iliad (1793) into German.
Performances
Previously performed at:
- 6. Cinderella: Clara Orif & Jack Redman 22 Apr 2023
- 53. Roderick Williams, Susie Allan: The Distant Beloved 24 Oct 2022