Midnight | Our little time together is near

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

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

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

by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Mezza notte

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Poco é l'ora ormai lontana,
palpitando il cor l'aspetta,
già rimbomba la campana...
E tu dormi, o mia diletta?
Ti fuggi forse del cor:
mezza notte é il nostro amor,
notte é il nostro amor.

Pari a nota di liuto
nel silenzio di quest'ora
odo il timido saluto
di colei che m'innamora
e ripeto a quel tenor:
mezza notte é il nostro amor.

Amor misero e verace
delle tenebre si giova,
tace il mondo ed ei non tace,
ma il suo gemito rinnova
fin che spuntò il primo albor:
mezza notte é il nostro amor.

Text Authorship:

by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [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 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893), "Mezza notte" [ sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Midnight", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Minuit", 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: 19
Word count: 95

Midnight

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

Our little time together is near,
palpitating, my heart is waiting,
already, the [midnight] bell tolls…
Are you asleep, my beloved?
Can you outrun your heart:
Midnight is our love,
Night is our love.

Like a note from the lute
in this silent hour,
I hear the timid greeting
of her with whom I fell fall in love
repeating this song:
Midnight is our love.

Love [that’s] miserable and true
is happy in the dark,
the world is silent but it [love] is not silent,
as it unceasingly moans
until the first light of dawn:
Midnight is our love.

Notes (provided by Laura Prichard): This song dates from the early 1860s and was first published in Leibrok’s Musée Musical series in St. Petersburg (Tchaikovsky’s first published composition). It was discovered in 1926 in the Jurgenson archive and re-published in 1940 in PSS, vol. 44.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) 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 Italian (Italiano) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-10-14
Line count: 19
Word count: 99