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 Dazeley and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Sterne mit den goldnen Füsschen
German source:
Heinrich Heine
Wandeln droben bang und sacht,
Dass sie nicht die Erde wecken,
Die da schläft im Schoss der Nacht.
Horchend steh’n die stummen Wälder,
Jedes Blatt ein grünes Ohr!
Und der Berg, wie träumend streckt er
Seinen Schattenarm hervor.
Doch was rief es? In mein Herze
Dringt der Töne Widerhall.
War es der Geliebten Stimme,
Oder war’s die Nachtigall?
Stars with tiny golden feet
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Move, anxiously and gently, across the skies,
So as not to wake the earth,
Sleeping in the lap of night.
The silent forests hearken –
Each leaf a verdant ear!
And the mountain, as though dreaming,
Stretches out his shady arm.
But what cried there? My heart
Is pierced by the echo of a sound.
Was it my beloved’s voice,
Or just a nightingale?
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Sterne mit den goldnen Füsschen
German source:
Heinrich Heine
Stars with tiny golden feet
English source:
Richard Stokes
Sterne mit den goldnen Füsschen
Stars with tiny golden feet
Wandeln droben bang und sacht,
Move, anxiously and gently, across the skies,
Dass sie nicht die Erde wecken,
So as not to wake the earth,
Die da schläft im Schoss der Nacht.
Sleeping in the lap of night.
Horchend steh’n die stummen Wälder,
The silent forests hearken –
Jedes Blatt ein grünes Ohr!
Each leaf a verdant ear!
Und der Berg, wie träumend streckt er
And the mountain, as though dreaming,
Seinen Schattenarm hervor.
Stretches out his shady arm.
Doch was rief es? In mein Herze
But what cried there? My heart
Dringt der Töne Widerhall.
Is pierced by the echo of a sound.
War es der Geliebten Stimme,
Was it my beloved’s voice,
Oder war’s die Nachtigall?
Or just a nightingale?
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…