Zwei Gesänge für eine Altstimme, Viola und Klavier by J. Brahms
From Arte.tv Hope@Home
April 16, 2020
Magdalena Kožená, mezzo-soprano
Amihai Grosz, viola
Sir Simon Rattle, piano
1. Gestillte Sehnsucht (F. Rückert)
2. Geistliches Wiegenlied (E. Geibel/de Vega)
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Translations from www.oxfordlieder.co.uk
(English Translation © Richard Stokes)
1. Assuaged longing
Bathed in golden evening light,
How solemnly the forests stand!
The evening winds mingle softly
With the soft voices of the birds.
What do the winds, the birds whisper?
They whisper the world to sleep.
But you, my desires, ever stirring
In my heart without respite!
You, my longing, that agitates my breast -
When will you rest, when will you sleep?
The winds and the birds whisper,
But when will you, yearning desires, slumber?
Ah! when my spirit no longer hastens
On wings of dreams into golden distances,
When my eyes no longer dwell yearningly
On eternally remote stars;
Then shall the winds, the birds whisper
My life - and my longing - to sleep.
2. A sacred cradle-song
You who hover
Around these palms
In night and wind,
You holy angels,
Silence the tree-tops!
My child is sleeping.
You palms of Bethlehem
In the raging wind,
Why do you bluster
So angrily today!
O roar not so!
Be still, lean
Calmly and gently over us;
Silence the tree-tops!
My child is sleeping.
The heavenly babe
Suffers distress,
Oh, how weary He has grown
With the sorrows of this world.
Ah, now that in sleep
His pains
Are gently eased,
Silence the treetops!
My child is sleeping.
Fierce cold
Blows down on us,
With what shall I cover
My little child’s limbs?
O all you angels,
Who wing your way
On the winds,
Silence the tree-tops!
My child is sleeping.