LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,107)
  • Text Authors (19,481)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

×

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 Johann Gaudenz Freiherr von Salis-Seewis (1762 - 1834)
Translation © by Malcolm Wren

Schöpferinn beseelter Töne!
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG ENG FRE ITA
Schöpferinn beseelter Töne!
Nachklang dem Olymp enthallt!
Holde, körperlose Schöne,
Sanfte geistige Gewalt,
Die das Herz der Erdensöhne
Kühn erhebt, und mild umwallt!
Die in inn'rer Stürme Drange
Labt mit stillender Magie,
Komm mit deinem Sühngesange,
Himmelstochter, Harmonie!

Seufzer, die das Herz erstickte,
Das, mißkannt, sich endlich schloß -
Thränen, die das Aug' zerdrückte,
Das einst viel' umsonst vergoß,
Dankt dir wieder der Entzückte,
Den dein Labequell umfloß.
Der Empfindung zarte Blume,
Die manch frost'ger Blick versengt,
Blüht erquickt im Heiligthume
Einer Brust, die du getränkt.

Des Vergangnen Traumgebilde,
Amors Morgen-Fantasien,
Heißt dein Ruf, so still wie milde
[Mondesschatten]1, uns umziehn;
Auf des Lebens Herbstgefilde
Längst verwelkte Veilchen blühn.
Süßer Täuschung Zauberblüthe,
Die Erfahrung knickt und rafft,
Weckt im ödesten Gemüthe
Deines Wohllauts Schöpfungskraft.

Holder, nun ein süßes Wähnen,
Kehrt das Bild verfloss'ner Zeit;
Zarter strebt der Liebe Sehnen,
Milder glüht die Innigkeit,
Wenn dein Chor den Trauer-Scenen
Höhern Trost und Anmuth leiht;
Gibt, wo Worte nichts vermögen,
Labsal dem zerstörten Geist;
Der Ergebung stillen Segen,
Wo die Thrän' erschöpfend fleußt.

Hefte auf die lichtern Stellen
Unsrer Bahn der Schwermuth Blick;
Trag' den Geist auf Wohllautswellen
In ein Friedensland zurück.
Solch ein Leben zu erhellen
Braucht man Täuschung und Musik!
Wo der Sturm des Zeitenganges
Meist der Bessern Plan zerreißt,
Träufl' im Balsam des Gesanges
Hoffnung in der Edlen Geist.

Komm, Momente zu verschönen,
Dem, der nicht der Zukunft traut;
Schleuß den Blick mit Schlummertönen,
Der zu starr ins Dunkel schaut;
Wie den Säugling beym Entwöhnen
Eines Wiegenliedes Laut,
Lull' auch uns in goldne Träume
Einer bessern, innern Welt,
Bis ein sanftres Licht die Räume
Unsres Kerkers still erhellt.

Engel! den zum Seelenkranken
Sanftes Mitleid niederträgt;
Der erquickende Gedanken
In der Töne Hülle legt;
Lindernd, statt der [Dornenranken]2,
Seinen Fittig um ihn schlägt;
Dem kein Erdentrost geblieben,
Seiner stummen Schwermuth treu -
Lehr' ihn weinen, lehr' ihn lieben,
Und sein Leben blüht ihm neu.

Gabe, Sterblichen verliehen,
Zart Gefühltes, scheu verhehlt,
Zu vertraun an Melodieen -
Süße Macht, die nie verfehlt,
Seel' an Seele hinzuziehen;
Was beseligt, was uns quält,
Was mit Worten auszudrücken
Keiner Sprache Kraft gelang -
Sehnsucht, Schauer und Entzücken
Zu ergießen im Gesang.

Stimm' aus jenen lichtern Sphären,
Sprach' aus Psyche's Vaterland,
Mit des Heimelns süßen Zähren
Hier im fremden Thal erkannt -
Ach! sie fühlt noch ihr Begehren,
Höhern Zonen zugewandt;
Kennt die Sprache, mehr als Worte,
Und vernimmt der Seelen Ton;
Wähnt sich an des Himmels Pforte,
Der Verbannung Kluft entflohn.

Tön' in leisen Sterbe-Chören
Durch des Todes Nacht uns vor!
Bey des äußern Sinns Zerstören
Weile in des Geistes Ohr!
Die der Erde nicht gehören,
Heb' mit Schwanensang empor!
Löse sanft des Lebens Bande,
Mildre Kampf und Agonie,
Und empfang' im Seelenlande
Uns, o [Seraph, Harmonie]3!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte von J. G. von Salis. Neueste Auflage. Wien 1815. Bey B. Ph. Bauer, pages 129-133; and with Iris. Ein Taschenbuch für 1804. Herausgegeben von J. G. Jacobi. Zürich, bey Orell, Füssli und Compagnie, pages 209-214.

1 Salis (Jacobi 1804 edition): "Mondes Schatten"
2 Salis (Jacobi 1804 edition): "Dornen Ranken"
3 Salis (Jacobi 1804 edition): "Seraph-Harmonie"

Text Authorship:

  • by Johann Gaudenz Freiherr von Salis-Seewis (1762 - 1834), "Gesang an die Harmonie", first published 1804 [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 Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "An die Harmonie", D 394 (1816), published 1895 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Aan de harmonie", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "To harmony", copyright ©
  • ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Antonio Zencovich) , "All'armonia", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 100
Word count: 453

Creator of inspired notes!
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Creator of inspired notes!
Echo carrying reverberations of Olympus!
Beauteous, incorporeal beauty,
Gentle, spiritual power,
Moving the heart of the sons of earth,
Boldly lifting them up and gently swirling around them!
Who, as inner storms rage, 
Offers refreshment with calming magic,
Come with your song of atonement,
Heaven's daughter, harmony!

Sighs, which constricted the heart,
Which, misunderstood, finally closed - 
Tears, which smothered the eyes,
Many of which at one time were poured out in vain,
He who is enraptured now thanks you for them once more,
As your healing spring flows around him.
The tender flower of emotion,
Which is destroyed by many a frosty look,
Is blossoming, given life in the shrine
Of a breast which you nourished.

The dream images of the past,
Amor's morning fantasies,
You call them up, making them as quiet as gentle
Shadows in the moonlight when they surround us.
In the autumnal realm of life
Violets that withered long ago bloom again.
The magical blossoms of sweet disappointment,
Which experience has collected up and creased,
Are woken up, even in the most despondent of minds,
By the creative power of your attractive sound.

More beauteous, now as a sweet delusion
The image of time that has flown by comes back;
Love's longing strives more tenderly,
Inwardness glows more gently
When your chorus accompanies scenes of mourning,
Lending them a higher solace and grace;
Where words are powerless, you give
Refreshment to the ruined spirit;
You give the blessing of humility
Where tears cause exhaustion as they flow.

You fix onto the brighter places
Of our journey the melancholy gaze;
You carry the spirit on waves of concord
Back into a land of peace.
In order to brighten such a life
Delusion and music are needed!
Where the storm of time's passage
Tears up most of our best plans,
The balm of song drips
Hope into the noble spirit.

Come to beautify moments
For those who do not trust the future;
With your soporific notes close the eyes
Of those who stare too rigidly into the darkness;
Like an infant being weaned needs
The sound of a lullaby,
Lull us too into golden dreams
Of a better, inner world,
Until a more gentle light shines into the space
Of our dungeon, bringing a calm brightness.

Angel, you who help the one who is soul-sick
By bringing down gentle compassion,
Who brings refreshing thoughts
And lays them in the wrappings of notes,
Offering relief, instead of thorny branches
You wrap your wings around him;
To him for whom no earthly consolation remains,
And who is faithful to his silent melancholy . . .
Teach him to weep, teach him to love,
And may his life bloom anew for him.

Gift, conferred on mortals,
Tenderly felt, shyly concealed,
To trust in melodies . . .
Sweet power, which never fails,
To attract soul to soul;
What makes us blissful, what torments us,
What cannot be expressed with words
In any language . . .
Longing, horror and enchantment
You are poured out into song.

Voice from those brighter spheres,
Language from Psyche's fatherland,
With the sweet tears of a lost homeland
Known here in an alien valley . . .
Oh! your wishes are still granted,
Turned towards higher zones;
You know the language, more than the actual words,
And you can hear the soul's note;
At heaven's gate you imagine
That you have escaped from the abyss of banishment.

In gentle dying choruses sing out
To us through the night of death!
When external senses have been destroyed
Remain in the spirit's ear!
Those who do not belong to the Earth,
Lift them up with a swan-song!
Gently cut loose the ties of life,
Ease the battle and the agony,
And into the land of souls receive
Us, oh seraph, harmony!

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of title(s):
"Gesang an die Harmonie" = "Song to harmony"
"An die Harmonie" = "To harmony"


Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 by Malcolm Wren, (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 Johann Gaudenz Freiherr von Salis-Seewis (1762 - 1834), "Gesang an die Harmonie", first published 1804
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2017-07-16
Line count: 100
Word count: 637

Gentle Reminder

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

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris