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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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by Aleksey Stepanovich Khomyakov (1804 - 1860)
Translation © by Laura Prichard

Вчерашняя ночь была так светла
Language: Russian (Русский) 
Our translations:  ENG FRE
Вчерашняя ночь была так светла.
Вчерашняя ночь всё звёзды зажгла так ясно,
Что, глядя на холмы и дремлющий лес,
На воды, блестящие блеском небес,
Я думал: о, жить в этом мире чудес прекрасно!

Прекрасны и волны и даль степей,
Прекрасна в одежде зелёных ветвей дубрава;
Прекрасна любовь с вечно свежим венком,
И дружбы звезда с неизменным лучом,
И песен восторг с озарённым челом, и слава!

Взглянул я на небо, там твердь ясна;
Высоко, высоко восходит она над бездной;
Там звёзды живые катятся в огне...
И детское чувство проснулось во мне;
[И думал я: лучше]1 нам в той [тишине]2 надзвёздной!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   A. Arensky •   M. Balakirev 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Arensky: "Я думал: о, лучше"
2 Arensky, Balakirev: "вышине"

Show a transliteration: Default | DIN | GOST

Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

  • by Aleksey Stepanovich Khomyakov (1804 - 1860), no title, appears in Nachtstück, no. 1 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Anton Stepanovich Arensky (1861 - 1906), "Вчеращняя ночь", op. 29 (Три дуэты (Tri du`ety) = Three duets) no. 2 [ vocal duet with piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev (1837 - 1910), "Ноктюрн", 1895 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Sergei Ivanovich Donaurov (1839 - 1897), "Вчерашняя ночь" [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893), "Вчерашняя ночь", op. 60 (Двенадцать романсов = Dvenadcat' romansov (Twelve romances) = Zwölf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebleitung) no. 1 (1886) [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
      • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

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

  • ENG English (Laura Prichard) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2016, (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: 15
Word count: 101

Last night was so bright
Language: English  after the Russian (Русский) 
Last night was so bright.
Last night all the stars shined so brightly,
That looking at [the] hills and dreaming forest,
At [the] water, reflecting the light of the [night] sky,
I thought: oh, to live in this world is so beautiful!

Beautiful too [are the] wide and rolling steppes,
Beautiful, in [a] robe of green, [is the] oak grove;
Beautiful [is] love with [its] evergreen garland,
And [the] star of friendship with [its] unfading luster,
And [the] delight of singing, and glory!

I gazed at the sky, there [in the] bright firmament;
High, high it ascended over [the] abyss;
There lively stars danced in fire…
And [a] childlike wish awoke in me;
And I thought: better for us [all to be] in that silence among the stars!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Prichard, (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 Russian (Русский) by Aleksey Stepanovich Khomyakov (1804 - 1860), no title, appears in Nachtstück, no. 1
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2016-06-05
Line count: 15
Word count: 128

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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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