Johannes Brahms: "Heimweh II", Op.63,No.8 Fischer-Dieskau

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
"Heimweh II", Op. 63, No. 8
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone)
Jörg Demus (piano)


Brahms wrote three songs entitled "Heimweh" as part of his Op. 63. In each song, Brahms conveys the protagonist's longing for lost childhood. The second song, Op. 63, No. 8, is the most complex, with a beautifully yearning, chromatic melody heard only in the accompaniment to the slower and rhythmically repetitive vocal line. These represent, respectively, the emptiness of a deserted beach as a metaphor for the search for happiness and the bitter realization that there can be no return to the lost joy of childhood.



Heimweh II

O wüßt ich doch den Weg zurück,
Den lieben Weg zum Kinderland!
O warum sucht' ich nach dem Glück
Und ließ der Mutter Hand?

O wie mich sehnet auszuruhn,
Von keinem Streben aufgeweckt,
Die müden Augen zuzutun,
Von Liebe sanft bedeckt!

Und nichts zu forschen, nichts zu spähn,
Und nur zu träumen leicht und lind;
Der Zeiten Wandel nicht zu sehn,
Zum zweiten Mal ein Kind!

O zeig mir doch den Weg zurück,
Den lieben Weg zum Kinderland!
Vergebens such ich nach dem Glück,
Ringsum ist öder Strand!

Klaus Groth (1819-1899)


Nostalgia II

Oh, that I knew the way back,
The blessed way to childhood!
Why did I look for happiness
And leave my mothers hand?

Oh, how I long to rest,
Woken by no struggle,
To shut my tired eyes,
Gently protected by love.

To seek after nothing, to peer at nothing,
Only lightly and gently to dream,
Blind to the changes of time
A second childhood!

Oh, show me then the way back,
The blessed way to childhood!
In vain I look for happiness,
All around me is desolate coast.

English translation: William Mann

Category:

Music

Tags:

• classical
• vocal
• Lieder
• Brahms
• Op.
• 63
• Fischer-Dieskau
• Demus
• childhood
• mother

[WatchBlueSkies]

very nice record !

[ivebeenthere1]

wonderful words and great pictures to go with magnificent music

thank you

Gary :--)

[007strauss]

Wonderful!

[pietro68bleu]

c'est très beau. Merci

[Glenmed]

Beautifully presented video as always.

[ca7lendula]

Thank you! With great taste and mood.

I love this song, I play it with the singers.