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 Mark Stone and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Wie soll ich fröhlich sein und lachen gar
German source:
Paul Heyse
Da du mir immer zürnest unverhohlen?
Du kommst nur einmal alle hundert Jahr,
Und dann, als hätte man dir’s anbefohlen.
Was kommst du, wenn’s die Deinen ungern sehn?
Gib frei mein Herz, dann magst du weitergehn.
Daheim mit deinen Leuten leb’, in Frieden,
Denn was der Himmel will, geschieht hienieden.
Halt Frieden mit den Deinigen zu Haus,
Denn was der Himmel will, das bleibt nicht aus.
How can I be happy and laugh indeed
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
When you always rage at me so openly?
You only visit me once in a hundred years,
And then as though it were by order.
Why do you come if your family’s against it?
Set free my heart, then go on your way.
Live in peace with your own folk at home,
Since what heaven ordains, happens here on earth.
Keep the peace with your family at home,
Since what heaven ordains will come to pass.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Wie soll ich fröhlich sein und lachen gar
German source:
Paul Heyse
How can I be happy and laugh indeed
English source:
Richard Stokes
Wie soll ich fröhlich sein und lachen gar,
How can I be happy and laugh indeed,
Da du mir immer zürnest unverhohlen?
When you always rage at me so openly?
Du kommst nur einmal alle hundert Jahr,
You only visit me once in a hundred years,
Und dann, als hätte man dir’s anbefohlen.
And then as though it were by order.
Was kommst du, wenn’s die Deinen ungern sehn?
Why do you come if your family’s against it?
Gib frei mein Herz, dann magst du weitergehn.
Set free my heart, then go on your way.
Daheim mit deinen Leuten leb’, in Frieden,
Live in peace with your own folk at home,
Denn was der Himmel will, geschieht hienieden.
Since what heaven ordains, happens here on earth.
Halt Frieden mit den Deinigen zu Haus,
Keep the peace with your family at home,
Denn was der Himmel will, das bleibt nicht aus.
Since what heaven ordains will come to pass.
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
Paul Heyse
Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse was a distinguished German writer and translator. A member of two important literary societies, the Tunnel über der Spree in Berlin and Die Krokodile in Munich, he wrote novels, poetry, 177 short stories, and about sixty…