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If music be the food of love, Sing on till I am fill'd with joy; For then my list'ning soul you move To pleasures that can never cloy. Your eyes, your mien, your tongue declare That you are music ev'rywhere. Pleasures invade both eye and ear, So fierce the transports are, they wound, And all my senses feasted are, Tho' yet the treat is only sound, Sure I must perish by your charms, Unless you save me in your arms.
Text Authorship:
- by Henry Heveningham, Colonel (1651 - 1700) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "If music be the food of love", 1947 [ voice and piano ], a realization of the Purcell song. Confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "If music be the food of love", 1948 [ voice and piano ], a realization of the first version of Purcell's song. Confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "If music be the food of love", 1933, published 1933 [ voice and piano ], from Old wine in new bottles: four Restoration songs, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Henry Purcell (1658/9 - 1695), "If music be the food of love", Z. 379, published 1692, published in Gentleman's Journal or Monthly Miscellany, June 1692 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Michael Tippett (1905 - 1998), "If music be the food of love", note: this is a realization of a Purcell song. [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Wim Zwaag (b. 1960), "If music be the food of love ", 2003 [ soprano and cello ], from Music for a while, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Si la música és l’aliment de l’amor", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Si la musique est la nourriture de l'amour", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Elaine Marie Ortiz-Arandes) , "Wenn Musik die Nahrung der Liebe ist", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , "Se la musica è il cibo dell'amore", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 80
Wenn Musik die Nahrung der Liebe ist, Singe weiter bis mich das Glück erfüllt; Denn dann bewegst du meine lauschende Seele Mit Freuden, die mir niemals überdrüssig werden. Deine Augen, deine Miene, deine Lippen erklären, Dass du Musik bist überall. Vergnügen dringen in Auge und Ohr, Die heftigen Freuden sind so stark, dass sie verwunden, Und all meine Sinne ergötzen sich, Obgleich der Genuss doch nur in Klang besteht. Sicher muss ich durch deinen Zauber zugrunde gehen, Es sei denn, du rettest mich in deinen Armen.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2015 by Elaine Marie Ortiz-Arandes, (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 English by Henry Heveningham, Colonel (1651 - 1700)
This text was added to the website: 2015-10-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 86