CCCXCVII. MAHLER, Gustav (1860-1911)
Mahler never intended a song cycle; they were initially published separately, but eventually found their way into a collection of five, although Mahler wrote music to other Friedrich Rückert texts.
1. Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder!
Do not look into my songs!
I lower my gaze,
As if caught in the act.
I dare not even trust myself
To watch them growing,
Your curiosity is treason.
Bees, when they build cells,
Let no one watch either,
And do not even watch themselves,
When the rich honeycombs
Have been brought to daylight,
You shall be the first to taste!
2. Ich atmet' einen linden Duft!
I lower my gaze,
As if caught in the act.
I dare not even trust myself
To watch them growing,
Your curiosity is treason.
Bees, when they build cells,
Let no one watch either,
And do not even watch themselves,
When the rich honeycombs
Have been brought to daylight,
You shall be the first to taste!
2. Ich atmet' einen linden Duft!
Note the delicate orchestration, with a running 1/8th-note figure in the muted violins:
I breathed a gentle fragrance!
In the room stood
A spray of lime,
A gift
From a dear hand.
How lovely the fragrance of lime was!
How lovely the fragrance of lime is!
The spray of lime
Was gently plucked by you;
Softly I breathe
In the fragrance of lime
The gentle fragrance of love.
3. Um Mitternacht
In the room stood
A spray of lime,
A gift
From a dear hand.
How lovely the fragrance of lime was!
How lovely the fragrance of lime is!
The spray of lime
Was gently plucked by you;
Softly I breathe
In the fragrance of lime
The gentle fragrance of love.
3. Um Mitternacht
The word-painting evokes a midnight black -- the half-steps in the vocal, the descending 1/4-notes in the bassoon/contrabassoon conjures depth ...
At midnight
I kept watch
And looked up to heaven;
Not a star in the galaxy
Smiled on me
At midnight.
At midnight
My thoughts went out
To the dark reaches of space;
No shining thought
Brought me comfort
At midnight.
At midnight
I paid heed
To the beating of my heart;
A single pulse of pain
Was set alight
At midnight.
At midnight
I fought the battle,
O Mankind, of your afflictions;
I could not gain victory
By my own strength
At midnight.
At midnight
I gave my strength
Into Thy hands!
Lord over life and death,
Thou keepest watch
At midnight.
4. Liebst du um Schönheit
The poet at first refuses love -- then ultimately accepts it!
[This is the only song not orchestrated by Mahler. It was done by Max Puttmann, an employee of the first publisher.]
5. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen
Note the English Horn part -- a favorite technique of Mahler's; extending a motif by a note, and then another ...
I am lost to the world
With which I used to waste much time;
It has for so long known nothing of me,
It may well believe that I am dead.
Nor am I at all concerned
If it should think that I am dead.
Nor can I deny it,
For truly I am dead to the world.
I am dead to the world's tumult
And rest in a quiet realm!
I live alone in my heaven,
In my love, in my song!
With which I used to waste much time;
It has for so long known nothing of me,
It may well believe that I am dead.
Nor am I at all concerned
If it should think that I am dead.
Nor can I deny it,
For truly I am dead to the world.
I am dead to the world's tumult
And rest in a quiet realm!
I live alone in my heaven,
In my love, in my song!
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