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»Wie klag' ich's aus Das Sterbegefühl, Das auflösend Durch die Glieder rinnt? Wie sing' ich's aus Das Werdegefühl, Das erlösend Dich, o Geist, anweht?« [Es klagt', es]1 sang Vernichtungsbang, Verklärungsfroh, Bis das Leben floh. Das [ist]2 des Schwanen Gesang!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Gedichte von Johann Senn. Innsbruck, in der Wagner'schen Buchhandlung. 1838, page 15
Note: Schubert received Senn's poem in handwritten form. Senn issued it later in the book mentioned above, with the footnote In Musik gesetzt von Fr. Schubert.
1 Schubert: "Er klagt', er"2 Schubert: "bedeutet"
Authorship
- by Johann Chrysostomos Senn (1795 - 1857), "Schwanenlied" [author's text checked 2 times 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 Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Schwanengesang", op. 23 (Vier Lieder) no. 3, D 744 (1822?), published 1823 [ voice, piano ], Sauer & Leidesdorf, VN 367, Wien [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Aleksi Reunanen) , "Joutsenlaulu", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Chant du cygne", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this text: Richard Morris , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 39
"How do I lament it forth, This feeling of dying, Which disintegratingly Runs through my limbs? How do I sing it forth, This feeling of becoming, Which redeemingly Wafts, oh spirit, toward you?" It lamented, it sang Fearful of annihilation, Glad of transfiguration, Until life fled. That [is]1 the swan’s singing!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Translations of title(s):
"Schwanengesang" = "The singing of the swan"
"Schwanenlied" = "The song of the swan"
Authorship
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 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:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Chrysostomos Senn (1795 - 1857), "Schwanenlied"
This text was added to the website: 2017-05-02
Line count: 13
Word count: 51