Songs
Wo wird einst des Wandermüden
by Hugo Wolf From Vier Gedichte nach Heine, Shakespeare und Lord Byron (1897)
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.
Wo wird einst des Wandermüden
German source:
Heinrich Heine
Letzte Ruhestätte sein?
Unter Palmen in dem Süden?
Unter Linden an dem Rhein?
Werd’ ich wo in einer Wüste
Eingescharrt von fremder Hand?
Oder ruh’ ich an der Küste
Eines Meeres in dem Sand?
Immerhin! Mich wird umgeben
Gottes Himmel, dort wie hier,
Und als Totenlampen schweben
Nachts die Sterne über mir.
Where shall the weary traveller
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Find his final resting place?
Under palm trees in the south?
Under lime trees by the Rhine?
Will I, somewhere in a desert,
Be buried by a stranger’s hand?
Or shall I find rest on the shore
Of some ocean in the sand?
No matter! I shall be surrounded
By God’s heaven, there as here,
And, as funeral lamps, the stars
Shall float above me every night.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber & Faber, 2005)
Wo wird einst des Wandermüden
German source:
Heinrich Heine
Where shall the weary traveller
English source:
Richard Stokes
Wo wird einst des Wandermüden
Where shall the weary traveller
Letzte Ruhestätte sein?
Find his final resting place?
Unter Palmen in dem Süden?
Under palm trees in the south?
Unter Linden an dem Rhein?
Under lime trees by the Rhine?
Werd’ ich wo in einer Wüste
Will I, somewhere in a desert,
Eingescharrt von fremder Hand?
Be buried by a stranger’s hand?
Oder ruh’ ich an der Küste
Or shall I find rest on the shore
Eines Meeres in dem Sand?
Of some ocean in the sand?
Immerhin! Mich wird umgeben
No matter! I shall be surrounded
Gottes Himmel, dort wie hier,
By God’s heaven, there as here,
Und als Totenlampen schweben
And, as funeral lamps, the stars
Nachts die Sterne über mir.
Shall float above me every night.
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…