Die Forelle (The trout)
Text by Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (1739-1791)
Set by Franz Schubert (1797-1828), D. 550 [Midi with words]
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
Monday, August 23, 2021
FUSSREISE -- JUST THE LYRICS TO CARRY!
Fussreise lyrics by Eduard Mörike*
Am frischgeschnitten Wanderstab,
Wenn ich in der Frühe
So durch Wälder ziehe,
Hügel auf und ab:
Dann, wie’s Vög’lein im Laube
Singet und sich rührt,
Oder wie die goldne Traube
Wonnegeister spürt
In der ersten Morgensonne:
So fühlt auch mein alter, lieber
Adam Herbst – und Frühlingsfieber,
Gottbeherzte,
Nie verscherzte, Erstlings-Paradieseswonne.
Also bist du nicht so schlimm,
O alter Adam,
Wie die strengen Lehrer sagen;
Liebst und lobst du immer doch,
Singst und preisest immer noch,
Wie an ewig neuen Schöpfungstagen,
Deinen lieben Schöpfer und Erhalter.
Möcht es dieser geben,
Und mein ganzes Leben
Wär im leichten Wanderschweisse
Eine solche Morgenreise!
Listen to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with Gerald Moore at the keyboard at:
Or -- with other performers and the initial part missing -- at:
English Translation:
A Journey on Foot
When, with a freshly cut stick,
I set off early like this
Through the woods
And over the hills:
Then, as the bird in the branches
Sings and stirs,
Or as the golden cluster of grapes
Feels the rapture
Of the early morning sun:
So too my dear old Adam
Feels autumn and spring fever,
The God-inspired,
Never forfeited
Primal bliss of Paradise.
So you are not as bad, old
Adam, as strict teachers say;
You still love and extol,
Still sing and praise,
As if Creation were forever new,
Your dear Maker and Preserver.
If only He would grant it,
My whole life
Would be, gently perspiring,
Just such a morning journey!
View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Eduard Mörike, Gedichte, Dramatisches, Erzählendes, Zweite, erweiterte Auflage, Stuttgart: J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachf., 1961, page 44.
*Please note: Mozart, as far as I know, had nothing to do with this; but often when I type in Mörike, it often comes out Mozart, and I do not know why!
Sunday, August 22, 2021
FUSSREISE - A WALKING JOURNEY WITH MANY TRANSLATIONS AND NOTES
I love to sing this when I walk!
The melody is by Hugo Wolf with lyrics from the Mörike Lieder by Eduard Mörike*.
Read more about Eduard Mörike at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Mörike*
See and hear this beautiful rendition by sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with Gerald Moore at the keyboard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRw9ObL4yJQ
And yet another translation:
With freshly-cut walking stick,
When I venture early
Through the woods I wend my way
Both up the hills and down.
Then, like small birds in the arbor,
Who sing and rouse themselves,
Or as the golden grapes
Felt the spirit of bliss
In the very first morning sun:
So feel I, my old inner Adam
Both autumn and spring fever,
Loved by God,
And ne’er forsaken,
First-born’s bliss in Paradise.
After all, you are not so bad,
Oh, old Adam,
As the strict teachers say:
You still love and you glorify,
You still sing and praise,
As though it is the first day of Creation.
My beloved Creator and Guardian.
If it really were so,
Then my entire life
Would be spent in the easy toil of hiking
Such a morning's journey!
When I venture early
Through the woods I wend my way
Both up the hills and down.
Then, like small birds in the arbor,
Who sing and rouse themselves,
Or as the golden grapes
Felt the spirit of bliss
In the very first morning sun:
So feel I, my old inner Adam
Both autumn and spring fever,
Loved by God,
And ne’er forsaken,
First-born’s bliss in Paradise.
After all, you are not so bad,
Oh, old Adam,
As the strict teachers say:
You still love and you glorify,
You still sing and praise,
As though it is the first day of Creation.
My beloved Creator and Guardian.
If it really were so,
Then my entire life
Would be spent in the easy toil of hiking
Such a morning's journey!
---------------------------
*Please note: Mozart, as far as I know, had nothing to do with this; but sometimes when I type in Mörike, it comes out Mozart, and I do not know why!
** Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau & Gerald Moore's performance (in the above YouTube link) is my favorite, but this song was also recorded live at the Oxford Lieder Festival as part of Hugo Wolf: The Complete Songs on Stone Records.
Click the link below to listen to this song with Stephan Loges and Sholto Kynoch. However the first few seconds of this performance are missing.
AUF DEM WASSER ZU ZINGEN --- ANOTHER RENDITION
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auf_dem_Wasser_zu_singen
To sing on the water D.774, composed by Franz Schubert in 1924 based on the poem of the same name by Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg, and with a somewhat closer translation.
Mitten im Schimmer der spiegelnden Wellen | In the midst of the shimmering, mirroring waves |
Monday, August 2, 2021
AUF DEM WASSER ZU SINGEN (1823) by FRANZ SCHUBERT
I loved to sing this when I was sailing;
Now it comes to mind as I view the boats on Lake Michigan.
Hear it sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and also with Gerald Moore at the keyboard at:
Or, listen at another website also featuring the "Dream Team" of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Gerald Moore - with a series of lovely visuals throughout:
(Unfortunately if you go to either of these you may not be able to return automatically to this blog. If so, just return to:
http://joansgoodstuff.blogspot.com -- I'm still figuring this out!)
Sunday, August 1, 2021
REVISITING A GRAND OLD HYMN
A hymn I have always loved is Once to Every Man and Nation.
This hymn was adapted from a poem entitled The Present Crisis written in 1845 by the abolitionist poet James Russell Lowell (1818-1891), before the beginning of the Civil War in 1862.
https://poets.org/poem/present-crisis
The Present Crisis is a lengthy poem, with five-line stanzas rhymed AABBB in a rhythmic pattern that I cannot identify. (If you know please let me know!)
But the following verses, extracted from this poem and recast in conventional 4/4 meter, are often sung today to the tune Ebenezer. You can hear this at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nk3_cWncuY
1 Once to ev'ry man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth and falsehood,
For the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision,
Off'ring each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever
'Twixt that darkness and that light.
2 Then to side with truth is noble,
When we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit,
And 'tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses
While the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue
Of the faith they had denied.
3 By the light of burning martyrs,
Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,
Toiling up new Calv'ries ever
With the cross that turns not back;
New occasions teach new duties,
Ancient values test our youth;
They must upward still and onward,
Who would keep abreast of truth.
4 Tho' the cause of evil prosper,
Yet the truth alone is strong;
Tho' her portion be the scaffold,
And upon the throne be wrong:
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
And, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow,
Keeping watch above His own.
Today, as I watch with much anxiety the returns of this year's Presidential Election, I find myself humming this tune.
I do not equate today's crisis with that faced on the eve of the Civil War, but now, nearly a century and a half later, I believe we are nevertheless facing a situation that could have huge consequences for the United States for many years to come. And so these verses keep resounding in my mind.
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Note -- The Hymn, Once to Every Man and Nation, appears with many minor textual changes in various sources and occasionally to different tunes. Here is one frequently seen version in a Baptist Hymnal.
And here is a pastor giving a sermon just the other day based on this hymn!
Please do not be confused by textual changes when encountering various versions of this hymn -- there have been many! But the ideas remain the same and are well worth considering in these turbulent days!
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Sunday, July 11, 2021
Epley Manuever for Benign Positional Vertigo (Dizziness)
Good to know how to do this if feeling dizzy!!
https://www.activator.com/wp-content/uploads/Home%20Epley%20Handouts.pdf
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Friday, November 6, 2020
RALPH NADER ON HOW THE DEMOCRATS FELL SHORT
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2020
As I await final confirmation of the results of the election held this past Tuesday, I have to say I think Ralph Nader's recent column (see link below) says it all.
Of course I'll welcome a new administration, and Mr. Biden would be, beyond a doubt, a vast improvement. However, I fear many opportunities may have been lost and this leaves me feeling sad and angry.
Read Ralph Nader's column here and you can decide for yourself!
https://mailchi.mp/nader/why-did-the-democrats-have-a-bad-election-day-y8at74590g?e=95b9c93f1f
Hopefully we will have a new administration brave enough to put my misgivings to rest!
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