"Der Abschied"
The video below is a beautiful live rendition of the closing portion of "Der Abschied" ("The Farewell"), which is the last of the six parts of "Das Lied von der Erde" ("The Song of the Earth") by Gustav Mahler. The singer is Janet Baker. She is performing in Munich in 1970 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Rafael Kubelik.As explained in notes by the BBC, Mahler based the text of this portion of "Der Abschied" on a poem by the Tang dynasty poet Wang Wei ...
Er stieg vom Pferd und reichte ihm den Trunk des Abschieds dar.
Er fragte ihn, wohin er führe und auch warum es müßte sein.
Er sprach, seine Stimme war umflort:
Du, mein Freund, mir war auf dieser Welt das Glück nicht hold!
Wohin ich geh? Ich geh, ich wandre in die Berge.
Ich suche Ruhe ... Ruhe für mein einsam Herz.
Ich wandle nach der Heimat, meiner Stätte.
Ich werde niemals in die Ferne schweifen.
Still ist mein Herz und harret seiner Stunde!
Die liebe Erde allüberall blüht auf im Lenz und grünt aufs neu!
Allüberall und ewig
Blauen licht die Fernen!
Ewig... ewig...
Ewig... ewig...
Ewig...
Ewig...
Ewig...
Below is the English translation provided in the video, slightly edited:
He dismounted and handed him the drink of parting.
He asked him where he would go, and also why it must be.
He spoke, his voice was choked:
My friend, on this earth, fortune has not been kind to me!
Where am I going? I'm going ... I'm going into the mountains.
I seek peace .. peace for my lonely heart.
I'm making my way towards home, where I belong.
I shall never roam to foreign lands.
My heart is quiet and awaits its hour!
All around the dear earth blooms in Spring and grows green afresh!
Everywhere and forever
Blue shines in the distance!
Forever... forever...
Forever... forever...
Forever...
Forever...
Forever...
Labels: Arts
posted by Karen Nelson @ 11:13 PM
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