Im Abendrot (Vier letzte Lieder) - Gundula Janowitz

Im Abendrot

Gundula Janowitz

Vier letzte Lieder
Richard Strauss (1948)

Herbert Von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker, 1973

Lyrics:
(Joseph von Eichendorff)

Wir sind durch Not und Freude
gegangen Hand in Hand;
vom Wandern ruhen wir
nun überm stillen Land.

Rings sich die Täler neigen,
es dunkelt schon die Luft,
zwei Lerchen nur noch steigen
nachträumend in den Duft.

Tritt her und laß sie schwirren,
bald ist es Schlafenszeit,
daß wir uns nicht verirren
In dieser Einsamkeit.

O weiter, stiller Friede!
So tief im Abendrot.
Wie sind wir wandermüde--
Ist dies etwa der Tod?


Translation:

We have gone through sorrow and joy
hand in hand;
now let us rest from our wanderings
above the silent land.

Around us, the valleys bend downwards;
the sky is turning darker;
a solitary pair of larks still soar
with reverie into the fragrant air.

Come close to me and let them fly about;
soon it will be time to sleep;
let us not lose our way
in this solitude.

O vast, tranquil peace!
so deep at sunset.
How weary we are of wandering -
Is this perhaps death?

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Gundula
• Janowitz
• Im
• Abendrot
• Vier
• letzte
• Lieder
• Four
• Last
• Songs
• Richard
• Strauss
• Herbert
• Von
• Karajan

[cyyyggnus]

Bravo!

[Operalala]

Brav*a* :)

[ballycotton32]

Hauntingly beautiful song and singing.Thank you for posting.

[Paracelsus72]

Janowitz/Karajan is my favourite performance of Strauss's Four Last Songs. In Abendrot, I think the most sheerly beautiful piece of music ever written. It makes me cry :(

[222mozart]

@BlueCougar

this wasn't my girlfriend. she has no time for moaning.

[BlueCougar]

Janowitz is THE ONE!

[BlueCougar]

@222mozart Yes, she moaned beautifully when I visited her last night...

[222mozart]

my girlfriend has a better voice... (!!)

[lesleypaul59]

...visit me on PLAYLIST 'sadest music on earth' ! Schwarzkopf is missed !!! but Gundula is also from another star !!! LES

[ferthjani]

A few decades more I'll be past a 100 but one decade I wouldn't mind...

I wonder if Gundula is still alive, God love her. Thank you for your comment.

[heartology]

@ferthjani

intersting - I had the same picture in my mind and feeling inside about my funeral

I hope we will live for a few decades more

[Brunildilla]

The wonderfull , pure and sweet voice of Gundula Janowitz !!!

[Teddyb1939]

@Paracelsus72 I agree with you, this truly is a magical piece of music, Gundula Janowitz has an almost mystical quality in her voice, I have many different versions of the 4 last songs & although the others are good Gundula Janowitz is supreme,in my opinion.

[MrAndredekock]

I can remember buying this version just as soon as it was released back in the middle 70's, still on vinyl LP's and it reigned supreme in my collection (which only other version was Schwarzkopf). Then came Annelise Rothenberger's version and there was a new queen of the 4 last songs, even though Rothenberger's was recorded almost at the end of her career. Since then just so many and the version that for me has stayed at the top is Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's. Brava to Janowitz.