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 Daniel Norman and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Sie haben heut’ abend Gesellschaft
German source:
Heinrich Heine
Und das Haus ist lichterfüllt.
Dort oben am hohen Fenster
Bewegt sich ein Schattenbild.
Du siehst mich nicht, im Dunkeln
Steh’ ich hier unten allein;
Noch wen’ger kannst du schauen
In mein dunkles Herz hinein.
Mein dunkles Herze liebt dich,
Es liebt dich und es bricht,
Es bricht und zuckt und verblutet,
Du aber siehst es nicht.
They have company tonight
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
And the house is full of light.
Up there at the bright window
A shadowy figure moves.
You do not see me, in the dark
I stand alone down here below;
Even less can you see
Into my dark heart.
My dark heart loves you,
It loves you and it breaks,
It breaks and quivers and bleeds to death,
But you see none of this.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Sie haben heut’ abend Gesellschaft
German source:
Heinrich Heine
They have company tonight
English source:
Richard Stokes
Sie haben heut’ abend Gesellschaft,
They have company tonight,
Und das Haus ist lichterfüllt.
And the house is full of light.
Dort oben am hohen Fenster
Up there at the bright window
Bewegt sich ein Schattenbild.
A shadowy figure moves.
Du siehst mich nicht, im Dunkeln
You do not see me, in the dark
Steh’ ich hier unten allein;
I stand alone down here below;
Noch wen’ger kannst du schauen
Even less can you see
In mein dunkles Herz hinein.
Into my dark heart.
Mein dunkles Herze liebt dich,
My dark heart loves you,
Es liebt dich und es bricht,
It loves you and it breaks,
Es bricht und zuckt und verblutet,
It breaks and quivers and bleeds to death,
Du aber siehst es nicht.
But you see none of this.
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
Heinrich Heine
Heine was born of Jewish parents. Much of his early life was influenced by the financial power of his uncle Salomon Heine, a millionaire Hamburg banker, with whom he remained on an awkward footing for many years. After he had been educated in the…