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Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Notturno
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG FRE
Hoch hing der Mond; das Schneegefild
lag bleich und öde um uns her,
wie meine Seele bleich und leer,
Denn neben mir, so stumm und wild,
so stumm und kalt wie meine Not,
Als wollt' er weichen nimmermehr,
Saß starr und wartete der Tod.

Da kam es her wie einst so mild,
so müd' und sacht
aus ferner Nacht,
so kummerschwer
kam seiner Geige Hauch daher,
Und vor mir stand sein stilles Bild.

Der mich umflochten wie ein Band,
daß meine Blüte nicht zerfiel,
und daß mein Herz die Sehnsucht fand,
die große Sehnsucht ohne Ziel:
da stand er nun im öden Land
Und stand so trüb und feierlich
und sah nicht auf noch grüßte mich,
Nur seine Töne ließ er irr'n
und weinen durch die kühle Flur;
und mir entgegen starrte nur
aus seiner Stirn,
als wär's ein Auge hohl und fahl,
der tiefen Wunde dunkles Mal.

Und trüber quoll das trübe Lied
und quoll so heiß, und wuchs, und schwoll,
so heiß und voll
wie Leben, das nach Liebe glüht,
wie Liebe, die nach Leben schreit,
nach ungenossner Seligkeit,
so wehevoll,
so wühlend quoll
das strömende Lied und flutete;
und leise, leise blutete und strömte mit
in's bleiche Schneefeld rot und fahl
der tiefen Wunde dunkles Mal.

Und müder glitt die müde Hand,
und vor mir stand
ein bleicher Tag,
ein ferner, bleicher Jugendtag,
Da starr im Sand
zerfallen seine Blüte lag,
da seine Sehnsucht sich vergaß,
in ihrer Schwermut Übermaß
und ihrer Traurigkeiten müd
zum Ziele schritt;
und laut aufschrie das weinende Lied,
Das wühlende, und flutete,
und seiner Saiten Klage schnitt,
und seine Stirne blutete
und weinte mit
in meine starre Seelennot,
als sollt' ich hören ein Gebot,
als müßt ich jubeln, daß ich litt,
mitfühlen alles Leidens Schuld
und alles Lebens warme Huld --
und weinend, blutend wandt' er sich
ins bleiche Dunkel und verblich.

Und bebend hört' ich mir entgehn,
entfliehn sein Lied. Und wie so zart
So zitternd ward,
der langen Töne fernes Flehn,
da fühlt' ich kalt ein Rauschen wehn
Und grauenschwer
die Luft sich rühren um mich her,
und wollte bebend nun ihn sehn,
ihn lauschen sehn,
der wartend saß bei meiner Not,
und wandte mich -- : da lag es kahl,
das bleiche Feld, und fern und fahl
entwich ins Dunkel auch der Tod.

Hoch hing der Mond, und mild und müd
hin schwand es in die leere Nacht,
das flehende Lied,
und schwand und schied,
des toten Freundes flehendes Lied.

The text shown is a variant of another text. [ View differences ]
It is based on

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (1863 - 1920), "Erscheinung", appears in Erlösungen; eine Seelenwandlung in Gedichte und Sprüche, first published 1891
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Notturno", op. 44 (Zwei Größere Gesänge) no. 1 (1899), published 1899 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 2 times]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Notturno", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Notturno", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Notturno", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2014-08-15
Line count: 78
Word count: 408

Notturno
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
The moon hung high; the snowy expanse
Lay pale and desolate about us,
Like my soul pale and empty
For beside me, so mute and wild,
As mute and cold as my suffering,
As if he would nevermore leave,
Death sat stiffly and waited.

Then it came wafting over as mildly as in the past,
So wearily and gently
From distant night,
So heavy with sorrow
The breath of his violin came,
And before me stood his silent image.

He who had woven himself about me like a ribbon
So that my blossom did not fall apart,
And that my heart found that longing,
The great longing without an object:
There he stood now in the desolate land,
He stood, so pale and solemn,
And neither looked up nor greeted me,
Only his musical sounds did he let drift
And weep through the cool meadow;
And only staring at me
From his brow,
As if it were an eye, hollow and pallid,
Was the dark mark of a deep wound.

And more drearily the dreary song poured forth,
And poured forth so fervidly and grew and swelled,
As hot and full
As life that glows for love,
As love that screams for life,
And for bliss not savoured,
Thus full of pain,
Thus raging poured forth
The streaming song and surged;
And quietly, quietly also bled and flowed
Into the pale snow-field, red and wan,
The dark mark of the deep wound.

And ever more wearily floated the weary hand,
And before me stood
A pale day,
A distant, pale day of youth,
When stiffly in the sand
his blooming a mouldering ruin,
When his yearning forgot itself
In the excesses of its depression
And tired of its sadness,
[And] strode toward the goal;
And the weeping song screamed loudly and suddenly,
The agitating [song], and surged forth,
And the lament of his strings cut,
And his brow bled
And joined in the weeping
Into the frozen misery of my soul,
As if I should hear a command,
As if I should rejoice that I suffer,
Feel with empathy all the guilt of my suffering
And all the warm benevolence of life --
And weeping, bleeding he turned away
Into the pale darkness and perished.

And with trembling I heard his song
Evading me and fleeing from me.  And as it
Became so delicate, so quavery
The distant pleading of the long tones,
I felt the blowing of a cold wind
And laden with dread
[I felt] the air bestirring itself about me,
And trembling, I wanted now to see him,
To see him listening,
He, who sat waiting during my misery,
And I turned -- there lay bleakly
The pale field, and distantly and wanly
Death too vanished into the darkness.

The moon hung high; and gently and wearily
It vanished into the empty night,
The pleading song,
And vanished and departed,
The pleading song of my dead friend.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2014 by Sharon Krebs, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Not Applicable [an adaptation]
    • Go to the text page.

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (1863 - 1920), "Erscheinung", appears in Erlösungen; eine Seelenwandlung in Gedichte und Sprüche, first published 1891
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2014-08-15
Line count: 78
Word count: 488

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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