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 Robert Holl and Sholto Kynoch, or click here to buy the CD from Stone Records.
Wohl denk' ich oft
German source:
Walter Heinrich Robert-Tornow
Wie es, vor meiner Liebe für Dich, war;
Kein Mensch hat damals Acht auf
mich gegeben,
Ein jeder Tag verloren für mich war.
Ich dachte wohl, ganz dem Gesang zu leben,
Auch mich zu flüchten aus der
Menschen Schar…
Genannt in Lob und Tadel bin ich heute,
Und, dass ich da bin, wissen alle Leute!
after Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)
I often recall
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
As it was before I loved you;
No one then paid heed
to me,
Each day for me was a loss;
I thought to live for song alone,
And flee the thronging
crowd.
Today my name is praised and censured,
And the entire world knows that I exist!
Wohl denk' ich oft
German source:
Walter Heinrich Robert-Tornow
I often recall
English source:
Richard Stokes
Wohl denk’ ich oft an mein vergang’nes Leben,
I often recall my past life,
Wie es, vor meiner Liebe für Dich, war;
As it was before I loved you;
Kein Mensch hat damals Acht auf
No one then paid heed
mich gegeben,
to me,
Ein jeder Tag verloren für mich war.
Each day for me was a loss;
Ich dachte wohl, ganz dem Gesang zu leben,
I thought to live for song alone,
Auch mich zu flüchten aus der
And flee the thronging
Menschen Schar…
crowd.
Genannt in Lob und Tadel bin ich heute,
Today my name is praised and censured,
Und, dass ich da bin, wissen alle Leute!
And the entire world knows that I exist!
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…
