Hugo Wolf: Zur Ruh', zur Ruh'; Kirsten Flagstad (1956) [SUBS]

Описание: Kirsten Flagstad, soprano
Edwin McArthur, piano
(Recorded November, 1956, Decca Studios, London)

Words by Justinus Andreas Christian Kerner
(Written c. 1853)
Setting by Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf
(Composed c. 1883)

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To rest, to rest, ye weary limbs!
Ye eyelids close down firmly!
I am alone, gone is the earth;
it must be night for light to come to me.

Oh, lead me on, ye inner powers!
On to the radiance of the deepest nights.
Away from the realm of earthly pains,
through night and dreams to the Mother-heart.

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Ernest Newman writes:

"The volume of "Lieder nach verschiedenen Dichtern" ("Songs from Various Poets") mostly dates from 1886–1897. Of the songs written before 1886 Wolf chose only seven for publication in this collection. "Zur Ruh', zur Ruh'" is one of these; it dates from 1883. It is one of his most deeply-felt songs. The first four lines are projected in a single melodic and harmonic curve, with the voice touching its lowest point at "Nacht muss es sein". From "O Führt mich ganz" to "Glanz der tiefsten Nächte" the general effect is of a steadily rising line, in spite of a contrary tug running through it all. The final lines soar aloft, to sink again in resignation with a characteristic Wolfian touch at "Mutterherzen". The piano postlude, with its long chromatic descent, intensifies this feeling of resignation and consolation in life's "Mother-heart".
When the coffin containing Wolf's wasted remains was lowered into the grave, his friend Michael Haberlandt, in the course of a brief address, quoted the first part of Kerner's poem, changing the third and fourth lines into:

"Du bist allein, fort ist die Erde;
Nacht muss es sein, dass Licht dir werde!""

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Hugo Wolf (13th March, 1860–22nd February, 1903) was an Austrian composer belonging to the late Romantic period. He is best known for his art songs, or lieder. His last composition was written in 1898, before he suffered a mental collapse caused by syphilis.