truvy
Wednesday, May 08, 2002
Zueignung
I am working on a new song with my voice teacher, one of Richard Strauss' "4 Last Songs" - a lieder of extraordinary beauty (if sung right). I'm pretty excited about it, having never tackled a song like this before. Some of you may know Jessye Norman's recording of it, which takes a few artistic liberties (and why the fuck not? She's a diva queen and can do whatever she wants and everyone loves her for it) with rhythms, etc., and she sings it up 1/3 from the original (so my teacher tells me), or maybe you've heard Kiri Te Kanawa's recording. Anyway, I love the song.
When Robert and I first started dating, he wrote me about the song, telling me it made him think of me (collective "aw" out there?) and how he'd be transported by the song, especially on the F sharp note on "Hei-lig" ("Holy") in the last verse.
I took a few different translations of the original German and tweaked & combined them into how I feel the poem flows better in English. Here it is (my adapted translation):
Zeuignung ("Devotion" or "Dedication")
Yes, you know, dear soul
That, far from you, I pine
Love makes hearts sick -
Take my thanks!
Once, reveling in freedom,
I lifted up the amethyst cup
And you blessed the drink -
Take my thanks!
And you banished the evil spirits
Till I became what I had never been
Holy, and holy, I fell on your heart -
Take my thanks!
Habe dank dear readers.
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