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 James Gilchrist and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Selbstgeständnis
German source:
Eduard Mörike
Und weil die andern ausblieben sind
– Was weiß ich wieviel, die sechs oder sieben, –
Ist eben alles an mir hängen blieben;
Ich hab müssen die Liebe, die Treue, die Güte
Für ein ganz halb Dutzend allein aufessen,
Ich wills mein Lebtag nicht vergessen.
Es hätte mir aber noch wohl mögen frommen,
Hätt ich nur auch Schläg für Sechse bekommen.
Self-confession
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
And since the others failed to appear
– Who knows how many, six or seven, –
Everything had to centre on me;
I’ve had to devour all myself
The love, loyalty and kindness for a full half-dozen,
I’ll never forget it, as long as I live.
I dare say it would have done me no harm,
If I’d been whipped for six as well!
Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Selbstgeständnis
German source:
Eduard Mörike
Self-confession
English source:
Richard Stokes
Ich bin meiner Mutter einzig Kind,
I am my mother’s only child,
Und weil die andern ausblieben sind
And since the others failed to appear
– Was weiß ich wieviel, die sechs oder sieben, –
– Who knows how many, six or seven, –
Ist eben alles an mir hängen blieben;
Everything had to centre on me;
Ich hab müssen die Liebe, die Treue, die Güte
I’ve had to devour all myself
Für ein ganz halb Dutzend allein aufessen,
The love, loyalty and kindness for a full half-dozen,
Ich wills mein Lebtag nicht vergessen.
I’ll never forget it, as long as I live.
Es hätte mir aber noch wohl mögen frommen,
I dare say it would have done me no harm,
Hätt ich nur auch Schläg für Sechse bekommen.
If I’d been whipped for six as well!
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
Eduard Mörike
Eduard Friedrich Mörike was a German Romantic poet. Mörike was born in Ludwigsburg. His father was Karl Friedrich Mörike (d. 1817), a district medical councilor; his mother was Charlotte Bayer. He attended the Latin school at Ludwigsburg, and the…