Songs

Wir haben beide lange Zeit geschwiegen

by Hugo Wolf From Italienisches Liederbuch

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Text & Translation

View IPA

Wir haben beide lange Zeit geschwiegen
German source: Paul Heyse

Wir haben beide lange Zeit geschwiegen,
Auf einmal kam uns nun die Sprache wieder.
Die Engel Gottes sind herabgeflogen,
Sie brachten nach dem Krieg den Frieden wieder.
Die Engel Gottes sind herabgeflogen,
Mit ihnen ist der Frieden eingezogen.
Die Liebesengel kamen über Nacht
Und haben Frieden meiner Brust gebracht.

For a long time we had both been silent
English translation © Richard Stokes

For a long time we had both been silent,
Now all at once speech has returned.
The angels of God have descended,
They brought back peace after war.
The angels of God have descended
And with them peace has returned.
The angels of love came in the night
And have brought peace to my breast.

Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)

Wir haben beide lange Zeit geschwiegen
German source: Paul Heyse

For a long time we had both been silent
English source: Richard Stokes

Wir haben beide lange Zeit geschwiegen,
For a long time we had both been silent,
Auf einmal kam uns nun die Sprache wieder.
Now all at once speech has returned.
Die Engel Gottes sind herabgeflogen,
The angels of God have descended,
Sie brachten nach dem Krieg den Frieden wieder.
They brought back peace after war.
Die Engel Gottes sind herabgeflogen,
The angels of God have descended
Mit ihnen ist der Frieden eingezogen.
And with them peace has returned.
Die Liebesengel kamen über Nacht
The angels of love came in the night
Und haben Frieden meiner Brust gebracht.
And have brought peace to my breast.

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…

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