Wagner in the Salon programme

Coming Tait Events: Concert at the Royal Overs-Seas League Princess Alexandra Hall, Over-Seas House.

London SW1A 1LR Monday 19th May at 7pm Morgan Pearse, baritone Lucinda-Mirikata Deacon, soprano Chad Vindin, piano Proudly supporting young Australian performing artists Tait Memorial Trust 4/80 Elm Park Gardens London SW10 9PD Phone +44 207 351 0561 info@taitmemorialtrust.org www.taitmemorialtrust.org Reg. Charity 1042797

The Tait Trust presents

Wagner in the Salon Leslie Howard, Coady Green & Greta Bradman Introduced by Ross Alley

The Leanne Benjamin Awards The Royal Ballet School, Floral Street London WC2E 9DA Thursday 12th June at 6.30pm Gala event at The Royal Ballet School with Australian principal ballerina Leanne Benjamin OBE. Help us to create a new scholarship fund for young Australian dancers studying in the UK

The Tait Memorial Trust was formed in 1992 by Isla Baring OAM in memory of Sir Frank and Viola, Lady Tait and the Tait brothers who played such an important part in the establishment of theatre and the performing arts in Australia.

The Trust offers awards/grants for postgraduate study, performance opportunities to young Australian musicians and performing artists and general help in the furtherance of their careers while resident in the UK. To ensure its continuance the Trust arranges regular fund raising events and concerts, invariably featuring the talented young winners of the various awards, and relies a great deal on financial support from the business sector, private donors and other loyal supporters.

Acknowledgements This evening would not be possible without the support of the Vernon Ellis Foundation. Tonights wine is courtesy of Treasury Wine Estates. Catering tonight is provided by Prue and Simon Horn.

www.taitmemorialtrust.org

Tuesday 8 April 2014 7 for 7.30pm 49 Queen’s Gate Terrace, London SW7

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Wagner in the Salon

Tait Awardees

Artists

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We are pleased to assist these young Australians in 2013/14 Tait Awards

Leslie Howard Coady Green Greta Bradman

Piano Piano Soprano

Concert Programme Souvenirs de Munich, Emmanuel Chabrier: Quadrille on Themes from Tristan und Isolde" (1885-86) Leslie Howard & Coady Green, Piano "Trois Chansons de Bilitis", Claude Debussy Greta Bradman, Soprano & Coady Green, Piano 1. La Flûte de Pan 2. La Chevelure 3. Le Tombeau des Naïades Liebestod, Liszt (after Wagner), S447 Leslie Howard, Piano Wesendonck Lieder, Richard Wagner WWV 91 Greta Bradman, Soprano & Leslie Howard, Piano 1. Der Engel 2. Stehe still!

3. Im Treibhaus 4. Schmerzen 5. Träume Souvenirs de Bayreuth, Gabriel Fauré and André Messager (Fantaisie en forme de quadrille sur les thèmes favoris de L'anneau de Nibelung - Wagner) (1888) Leslie Howard & Coady Green, Piano

Adam Szabo, cello, Royal Northern College of Music The Thornton Foundation Lauren Fagan, soprano, Guildhall School of Music and Drama Michael and Karen Goldie-Morrison Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, violin, London Masterclasses & Royal Academy of Music The Thornton Foundation Benjamin Mellefont, clarinet, Royal College of Music Michael and Karen Goldie-Morrison Greta Bradman, soprano, Wales International Academy of Voice, Sinclair and Wendy Hill Award, Kelly Lovelady, conductor, Ruthless Jabiru, Julian Baring Award Other awards, prizes and scholarships: Kevin Penkin, Royal College of Music, ‘Tait Scholar’ Tait Memorial Trust Morgan Pearse, baritone, Australian musician showing the most promise, Royal Over-Seas League Prize Marlena Devoe, Tait Award, Bel Canto Awards, Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Foundation Nicola Crowe, Southbank Sinfonia, Sir Charles Mackerras Chair Tait Memorial Trust Connor Barlow, ballet, English National Ballet School The Thornton Foundation Calvin Richardson, ballet, Royal Ballet School Michael and Karen Whalley Sophie Moffatt, ballet, Royal Ballet School Dance Arches Award Sabina Im, piano, London Masterclasses Anonymous donor

The Tait Memorial Trust

Chairman Isla Baring OAM Founding Patrons Dame Joan Sutherland AC OM DBE, Viola, Lady Tait AM, John McCallum AOCBE, Googie Withers AO CBE Patrons Julian Gavin, Patricia Countess of Harewood, Peggy Haim, Barry Humphries AO CBE, Piers Lane AO, June Mendoza AO OBE, Ermes de Zan Trustees Justin Baring, Isla Baring, Shirley Barr, Anne Longden, Susie Thornton Committee Lorraine Buckland, Kelly Dalglish, Jan Gowrie-Smith, Ros Higgins, Robyn Hollands, Kelly Lovelady, Wendy Kramer, Joanna McCallum, Gayle McDermott, Patricia Nimmo, John Rendall, Margaret Rodgers, Ann Seddon, Belinda Syme, Jacqueline Thompson, Rosemary Tuck, Rosemary Wood Executive Director James Hancock

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Biographies

Programme Notes

Ross Alley - Presenter Ross Alley, a New Zealander, is a music lecturer for Birkbeck College, University of London. He has been a frequent lecturer at the Royal Opera House giving over 70 talks on opera and ballet music. In addition he has given numerous pre-performance talks and lectures at the E.N.O., Wigmore Hall, Symphony Hall Birmingham, the Wagner Society, the Gustav Mahler Society, London Jewish Cultural Centre and NADFAS. Ross founded The Lure of Opera / Inside Opera 1991 – Present (23 years) in the function rooms of the Grosvenor Chapel, Mayfair, London “The Lure of Opera” is a privately-run lecture series on opera currently in its 55th series. The focus for each ten-week course is usually the operatic works of one composer and takes place on a Monday evening (7.459.45pm) at the Grosvenor Chapel, Mayfair, repeated on Tuesday mornings (1030am-12.30pm). “Inside Opera” is held at the same venue on Wednesday mornings (10.30am-12.30pm) and focuses on works currently in performance in London.

In addition, Ross has given numerous guest lectures for the Cecchetti Societies of Great Britain, USA, Canada & Italy; the Royal Academy of Dancing, the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, the Council for Dance Education and Training, Birmingham Royal Ballet Education, London Junior Ballet, Hammond School, Elmhurst School of Dance. Numerous guest lectures on music for the English National Opera, Wigmore Hall, Symphony Hall Birmingham, London Symphony Orchestra, the Wagner Society, the Gustav Mahler Society, Kenwood, NADFAS, Artstur, Newbury Spring Festival, London Jewish Cultural Centre.

Internationally, he has lectured several times at the “The Great Romantics” Festival in Hamilton, Ontario organized by the foremost Liszt scholar, Dr. Alan Walker and co-hosted by McMaster University and the American Liszt Society.

Partner Organisations Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition Opera Foundation Australia (Sydney) Australian International Opera Awards, WIAV Cardiff Mietta Song Recital Award, Melbourne Southbank Sinfonia, Sir Charles Mackerras Chair Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Foundation, Bel Canto Award Royal College of Music, Tait Scholar Royal Ballet School, Leanne Benjamin Award English National Ballet School

Souvenirs de Munich, Chabrier: Quadrille on Themes from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (1885-86)

Souvenirs de Munich, a parodic set of quadrilles for piano four-hands based on themes and leitmotifs from Wagner's romantic opera, Tristan und Isolde. Chabrier's set of humorous quadrilles almost certainly inspired a similar set called Souvenirs de Bayreuth , which you will hear later in the programme, by Fauré and Messager, which is based on themes from the Ring Cycle.

Trois Chansons de Bilitis, Debussy 1. La Flûte de Pan 2. La Chevelure 3. Le Tombeau des Naïades Debussy's Trois Chansons de Bilitis were published in their original form for voice and piano in 1897, with a dedication to the writer André Gide. The texts were those of the well-known prose poems by Pierre Louÿs. As Edward Lockspeiser writes, these songs "provide the most moving revelations of the hedonistic, pagan art of Debussy, a reminder that the antique grace and splendour of the earlier Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune was not only still alive in the composer's imagination, but that it was capable of a more remote, and therefore still more poignant spiritualization. Indeed, one may go further and conjecture that Bilitis and the Mallarméan faun are in a sense the illegitimate progenitors of the ultimate glory".

Isolde's Liebestod (after Wagner), Liszt, S447 Isolde‟s “Love Death” is the final aria in the dramatic ending of Richard Wagner‟s opera Tristan und Isolde. It brings the opera to a close as Isolde sings over Tristan's body. Liszt made over a dozen of Wagner‟s adaptations, this being the most well-known and one of the best of his many „re-orchestrated‟ or „transcribed‟ works. It starts with a thunder-like opening, bringing a feeling of suspense over the whole piece. Followed by pianissimo, the aria takes the longest path of development, with wandering melodies and picturesque orchestrations that make one forget what instrument is being played.

The climax coincides with Isolde‟s death, after which everything soothes and fades away into eternity.

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Programme Notes Wesendonck Lieder, Wagner WWV 91 The Wesendonck Lieder were songs which Wagner composed to poems by Mathilde Wesendonck: Mathilde was Wagner's muse; Wagner was her creative mentor. The intensity of their collaboration is enshrined in these five love songs. The Wesendonck Lieder were published under the title Fünf Gedichte von Mathilde Wesendonk für eine Frauenstimme und Klavier in 1857 and 1858 by C. F. Peters.

Wagner himself called two of the songs in the cycle "studies" for Tristan und Isolde, using for the first time certain musical ideas that are later developed in the opera. In Träume can be heard the roots of the love duet in Act 2, while Im Treibhaus (the last of the five to be composed) uses music later developed extensively for the prelude to Act 3. The chromatic-harmonic style of Tristan pervades all five songs and pulls the cycle together.

Souvenirs de Bayreuth, Fauré & André Messager (Fantaisie en forme de quadrille sur les thèmes favoris de L'anneau de Nibelung - R. Wagner) (1888) An oddly humorous series of quadrilles for piano four-hands on themes from Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. During the 1880's, French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) was quite the Wagnerite, traveling all over Europe and especially to Bayreuth in order to hear performances of Wagner's four-part operatic epic. Fauré and his friend André Messager (18531929), a fellow composer and Wagner fan, occasionally performed (and improvised) excerpts from Wagner's Ring transcribed for piano four-hands.

Together, the pair composed this work, a satirical set of brief dances on the main themes and leitmotifs of Wagner's Ring. Listeners familiar with the Ring Cycle will immediately recognize the melodies being parodied.

Beneficiaries of the Trust The Trust has helped over 200 young Australian performers since we were Founded in 1992. We hope to help many more in the years to come.

Lauren Fagan • Grant Doyle • Siobhan Stagg • Julian Gavin • Brad Cooper • Helena Dix • Sky Ingram • Kevin Penkin • Daniel de Borah • Hoang Phan • Lachlan Monaghan • Thomas Rann • Tristan Dyer • Amy Dickson • Valda Wilson • Liane Keegan • Alexandra Hutton • Stefan Cassemenos • Claire Howard • Kelly Lovelady • Morgan Pearse • Duncan Rock • Helen Sherman • Adrian Dwyer Elena Xanthoudakis • Jayson Gillham • Lauren Easton • Coady Green • Greta Bradman • Gavin Zev • Yelian He • Catherine Carby

Biographies

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Greta Bradman - Soprano Greta Bradman is a young Australian soprano who is gaining increasing attention for her vocal capacity and „evocative and moving‟ (Arts Hub 2012) performances of classical, romantic and contemporary repertoire, both in the concert hall and on the stage.

A recording artist for Sony Music, Greta is the 2013 recipient of the Australian International Opera Award; a scholarship valued up to AUD$50,000, which enables her to move to Wales in September 2013 to take up a position at the Wales International Academy of Voice under the tutelage of renowned tenor Dennis O‟Neill and honorary WIAV president, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

Greta is also the recipient of a 2013 Fellowship at the Australian National Academy of Music. Other recent accolades include second prize winner in the 2013 Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition and the 2012 APRA/ AMCOS SA Performance of the Year Award.

Born on a farm in the hills of Adelaide, Australia, Greta started taking piano and flute lessons at the age of six whilst regularly singing with other musician family members and singing and acting in the local youth theatre guild. At age ten, Greta commenced studies at a music school, where she sang in and toured internationally with the school choir and was a choir leader in her senior school years.

Greta continued studying piano through her final year of school in which she also formally studied composition; she received 95% for piano and 100% for composition, earning her school music prizes, colours, and the South Australian State Composition Prize.

Alongside her music studies, Greta undertook a Bachelor of Arts degree with a psychology major and linguistics minor; she went on to complete an Honours Psychology Degree (of which she was Dux and was awarded the Australian Psychological Society Award). As well as receiving the APS award and Music Prizes for voice (1999 – 2004) Greta received the UN Award for European Studies for languages and linguistics studies (2003).

In her spare time, Greta enjoys studying Shaolin Kung Fu, donning an apron and cooking with her two precious boys Jude and Caspar, visiting remote areas of Australia, visiting family and friends, playing sport, supporting specific kids‟ charities, and generally being very very normal.

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Trois Chansons de Bilitis

Biographies

1. La Flûte de Pan Pour le jour des Hyacinthies, il m'a donné une syrinx faite de roseaux bien taillés, unis avec la blanche cire qui est douce à mes lèvres comme le miel.

The pan pipes For the festival of Hyacinthus he gave me a syrinx, a set of pipes made from well-cut reeds joined with the white wax that is sweet to my lips like honey.

Il m'apprend à jouer, assise sur ses genoux ; mais je suis un peu tremblante. il en joue après moi, si doucement que je l'entends à peine.

He is teaching me to play, as I sit on his knees; but I tremble a little.

He plays it after me, so softly that I can scarcely hear it.

Nous n'avons rien à nous dire, tant nous sommes près l'un de l'autre; mais nos chansons veulent se répondre, et tour à tour nos bouches s'unissent sur la flûte.

Il est tard, voici le chant des grenouilles vertes qui commence avec la nuit.

Ma mère ne croira jamais que je suis restée si longtemps à chercher ma ceinture perdue.

We are so close that we have nothing to say to one another; but our songs want to converse, and our mouths are joined as they take turns on the pipes.

It is late: here comes the chant of the green frogs, which begins at dusk.

My mother will never believe I spent so long searching for my lost waistband.

2. La chevelure Il m'a dit: « Cette nuit, j'ai rêvé.

J'avais ta chevelure autour de mon cou.

J'avais tes cheveux comme un collier noir autour de ma nuque et sur ma poitrine.

The hair He told me: "Last night I had a dream.

Your hair was around my neck, it was like a black necklace round my nape and on my chest.

« Je les caressais, et c'étaient les miens ; et nous étions liés pour toujours ainsi, par la même chevelure, la bouche sur la bouche, ainsi que deux lauriers n'ont souvent qu'une racine.

"I was stroking your hair, and it was my own; thus the same tresses joined us forever, with our mouths touching, just as two laurels often have only one root.

« Et peu à peu, il m'a semblé, tant nos membres étaient confondus, que je devenais toi-même, ou que tu entrais en moi comme mon songe. »

"And gradually I sensed, since our limbs were so entwined, that I was becoming you and you were entering me like my dream."

When he'd finished, he gently put his hands on my shoulders, and gazed at me so tenderly that I lowered my eyes, quivering.

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Leslie Howard - Piano Annual re-engagements on 5 continents and a 130-CD discography attest to the burgeoning popularity of Leslie Howard, established worldwide as a concert pianist, composer, conductor, chamber musician and scholar. A citizen both of Britain and Australia - born in Melbourne but resident in London since 1972 Dr. Howard has earned an extraordinary claim to immortality, having accomplished a feat unequalled by any solo artist in recording history - his 97-CD survey (for Hyperion) of the complete piano music of Franz Liszt. Accomplished within 14 years, it encompasses 300+ world premieres, including works prepared by Dr. Howard from Liszt’s still unpublished manuscripts, and works unheard since Liszt’s lifetime. This monumental project merited Dr. Howard’s entry into the Guinness Book of World Records, 6 Grands Prix du Disque and - all presented to him by the President of Hungary - the Medal of St. Stephen, the Pro Cultura Hungarica award, and a mounted bronze cast of Liszt’s hand. At an internationally telecast ceremony from Buckingham Palace, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II bestowed on Dr. Howard “Member in the Order of Australia” for his “service to the arts as piano soloist, composer, musicologist and mentor to young musicians.” Highlights of Dr. Howard’s 2004-2005 concert season included an extensive Asian tour, with recitals and master classes throughout China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. His triumphant return to America included his highly anticipated recital at the 2005 International Keyboard Institute & Festival in Manhattan, for which he received accolades from the New York Times. Dr. Howard also realised his dream to conduct Liszt’s monumental Oratorio Christus in a rare and much-praised revival in Leicester.

Leslie Howard has appeared internationally with many of the world’s finest orchestras, including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, English Northern Philharmonia, RTE National Symphony of Dublin, Hanover Band, Utah Symphony, Utah Philharmonic, Maryland Symphony, Mexico Philharmonic, Orchestra della Scala, RAI Toscana, San Remo Symphony, Orchestre de Cannes, Budapest Phiharmonic, Budapest Symphony, the orchestras of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Queensland and Tasmania in Australia, and the orchestras of Pretoria, Cape Town and Zimbabwe in Africa. He has been soloist with such renowned conductors as Claudio Abbado, Adam Fischer, Roy Goodman, James Judd, Joseph Silverstein, Barry Tuckwell, Sir Charles Groves, Vernon Handley, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Elyakum Shapirra, Jansug Kakhidze, Arthur Fiedler, Fritz Rieger, Alexander Lazarev, Hiroyuki Iwaki, and Sir Charles Mackerras.

Dr. Howard’s performances of chamber music and lieder include collaborations with some of the greatest artists of our time, including the Amadeus, Britten and Endellion String Quartets, Salvatore Accardo, Augustin Dumay, Erick Friedman, Ani Kavafian, Benny Goodman, Charles Neidich, Steven Isserlis, Nathaniel Rosen, Torlief Thedeen, Geoffrey Parsons, Sir Thomas Allen, Yvonne Kenny and Dame Felicity Lott.

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Biographies

Tait Supporters

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Coady Green - Piano Coady Green is acknowledged as a major rising talent on the international concert circuit, having been described as “a virtuoso pianist with sensitivity, intelligence and charm”, and “accurate and exhilarating”, (Musical Opinion, London), with “a strong and versatile technique capable of the most delicate colouring and tonal brilliance, rising to the challenges of extreme virtuoso demands with relish” (The Advertiser, South Australia).

Coady Green began piano studies at the age of three, in South Australia. He studied with Wayne Hancock, Noreen Stokes and Graham Williams (a student of Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne LoriodMessiaen). After winning a large number of national awards in his early youth, including the National Yamaha Youth Piano Competition, he relocated to Victoria to study at the University of Melbourne. He gained his Bachelor of Music Performance and Masters of Music Performance, both with first-class honours, on scholarship from the University of Melbourne, studying with Professor Ian Holtham.

In 2005, Coady Green began preparations to relocate to Europe to study with Professor Peter Feuchtwanger in London and Professor Günter Reinhold (a student of Alfred Cortot, Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen) in Germany. He has been awarded almost all the most prestigious cultural awards that his native Australia has to offer. These included first prize in the City of Sydney National Piano Competition, one of Australia’s most prominent piano competitions, a Winston Churchill Fellowship Award, a British Council Award, the Trevor Prescott Memorial Award from the Masonic Foundation, a Sir Ian Potter Cultural Prize, two awards from the Australian Council for the Arts and the South Australian Arts Council, the Ormond Exhibition from the University of Melbourne for the most outstanding postgraduate student and an award from the Opus Fifty Charitable Trust. He was twice the recipient of a prize from the Geoffrey Parsons Trust, London (2008, 2012). In 2008, he was a prize winner at the International Two Piano Grieg Competition in Norway and a recipient of a Phonographic Performance Company of Australia award. In 2011 he was the recipient of the Sinclair and Wendy Hill Award, a Wigmore Hall recital, from the Tait Memorial Trust, London.

Since early 2006 Coady Green has been based in London. He regularly performs in Europe and abroad and has given critically acclaimed recitals throughout Germany, Holland, the United Kingdom, Austria, France, Italy, China, Africa and Australia, in venues such as the Sydney Opera House, the Beijing and Shanghai Concert Halls, the Salzburg Mozarteum, Linder Auditorium, Johannesburg, and Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and St Martin in the Fields, London.

Supporters of the Tait Trust Proudly supporting young Australian performing artists in the UK - Est. 1992 The Australian High Commission The Thornton Foundation Australia Day Foundation Royal Over-Seas League Royal Philharmonic Society The Linbury Trust The Tait Memorial Trust Committee The Britain-Australia Society Australian Business Treasury Wine Estates Cubitt House Minter Ellison Dance Arches The Royal Ballet School The Baring Family The McCallum Family The Higgins Family Sir Vernon and Lady Ellis Richard Bonynge AC CBE Mrs Anne Seddon Mr and Mrs D Hunter Mr and Mrs Martin Kramer Michael Whalley and Karen Goldie-Morrison Thomas P Byrne Jan Gowrie-Smith Irene Samuel Steve McCrae Margaret Rodgers Andrew Loewenthal Chevalier Richard Gunter Lady Robertson Damian Walsh and Jacqueline Thompson Piers Lane AO The late John Amis Anonymous

Elena Xanthoudakis, Soprano Tait Awardee 2008

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Wesendonck Lieder, Richard Wagner

Der Engel In der Kindheit frühen Tagen Hört ich oft von Engeln sagen, Die des Himmels hehre Wonne Tauschen mit der Erdensonne, Daß, wo bang ein Herz in Sorgen Schmachtet vor der Welt verborgen, Daß, wo still es will verbluten, Und vergehn in Tränenfluten, Daß, wo brünstig sein Gebet Einzig um Erlösung fleht, Da der Engel niederschwebt, Und es sanft gen Himmel hebt.

Ja, es stieg auch mir ein Engel nieder, Und auf leuchtendem Gefieder Führt er, ferne jedem Schmerz, Meinen Geist nun himmelwärts!

The Angel In my childhood's early days oft I heard tales of angels who trade heaven's blissful sublimity for the earth's sunshine; heard that, when a heart in sorrow hides its grief from the world, that it bleeds in silence, and dissolves in tears, offers fervent prayers for deliverance: then the angel flies down and bears it gently to heaven.

Yes, an angel came down to me also and on shining wings bears my spirit from all pains heavenwards.

Stehe still!

Sausendes, brausendes Rad der Zeit, Messer du der Ewigkeit; Leuchtende Sphären im weiten All, Die ihr umringt der Weltenball; Urewige Schöpfung, halte doch ein, Genug des Werdens, laß mich sein!

Halte an dich, zeugene Kraft, Urgedanke, der ewig schafft!

Hemmet den Atem, stillet den Drang, Schweigt nur eine Sekunde lang!

Schwellende Pulse, fesselt den Schlag; Ende, des Wollens ew'ger Tag! Daß in selig süßem Vergessen Ich mög' alle Wonne ermessen!

Wenn Auge in Auge wonnig trinken, Sehe ganz in Seile versinken; Wesen in Wesen sich wiederfindet, Und alles Hoffens Ende sich kündet, Die Lippe verstummt in staundendem Schweigen, Keinen Wunsch mehr will das Innre zeugen: Erkennt der Mensch des Ew'gen Spur, Und löst dein Rätsel, heil'ge Natur!

Stand Still!

Rushing, roaring wheel of time, you measure of eternity, shining spheres in the vast firmament, you that encircle our eathly sphere: eternal creation, stop!

Enough of becoming: let me be!

Cease, generative powers, primal thought, that endlessly creates; stop every breath, still every urge, give but one moment of peace!

Swelling pulses, restrain your beating: end, eternal day of the will!

So that in sweet forgetfuilness I may taste the full meaure of my joy!

When eye gazes blissfully into eye, soul drowns in soul; being finds itself in being, and the goal of all hopes is near; when lips are mute in silent amazement and the soul has no further wish: man knows eternity's footprint and solves your riddle, divine Nature!

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Im Treibhaus Hochgewölbte Blätterkronen, Baldachine von Smaragd, Kinder ihr aus fernen Zonen, Saget mir, warum ihr klagt?

Schweigend neiget ihr die Zweige, Malet Zeichen in die Luft, Unde der Leiden stummer Zeuge Steiget auftwärts, süßer Duft.

Weit in sehnendem Verlangen Breitet ihr die Arme aus Und umschlinget wahnbefangen Öder Leere nicht'gen Graus.

Wohl ich weiß es, arme Pflanze: Ein Geschicke teilen wir, Ob umstrahlt von Licht und Glanze, Unsre Heimat is nicht hier!

Und wie froh die Sonne scheidet Von des Tages leerem Schein, Hullet der, der wahrhaft leidet, Sich in Schweigens Dunkel ein.

Stille wird's ein säuselnd Weben Fullet bang den dunklen Raum: Schwere Tropfen seh' ich schweben An der Blätter grunem Saum.

In the Hothouse High-arching leafy crowns, canopies of emerald you children of distant lands, tell me, why do you lament?

Silently you incline your branches, tracing signs in the air, and, mute witness to your sorrows, there rises a sweet perfume.

Wide in longing and desire you spread your arms out and embrace, in self-deception barren emptiness, a fearful void.

WeIl I know it, poor plant!

We share the same fate.

Although the light shines brightly round us, our home is not here!

And, as the sun gladly quits day's empty brightness, so he who truly suffers wraps himself in the dark mantel of silence.

It grows quiet, an anxious rustling fills the dark room; I see the heavy drops hanging from the leaves' green edges.

Schmerzen Sonne, weinest jeden Abend Dir die Schönen Augen rot, Wenn im Meeresspiegel badend Dich erreicht der frühe Tod; Doch erstehst in alter Pracht, Glorie der düstren Welt, Du am Morgen, neu erwacht, Wie ein stolzer Siegesheld!

Ach, wie sollte ich da klagen, Wie, mein Herz, so schwer dich sehn, Muß die Sonne selbst verzagen, Muß die Sonne untergehn?

Und gebieret Tod nur Leben, Geben Schmerzen Wonnen nur: O wie dank'ich daß gegeben Solche Schmerzen mir Natur.

Sorrows Sun, you weep every evening until your lovely eyes are red, when, bathing in the sea, you are overtaken by your early death: but you rise again in your former splendor, the glory of the dark world; fresh awakened in the morning like a proud and conquering hero!

Ah, then, why should I complain, why should my heart be so heavy, if the sun itself must despair, if the sun itself must go down?

And, if only death gives birth to life, if only torment brings bliss: then how thankful I am that Nature has given me such sorrows

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Wesendonck Lieder Träume Sag', welch' wunderbare Träume Halten meinen Sinn umfangen, Daß sie nicht wie leere Schäume Sind in ödes Nichts vergangen?

Träume, die in jeder Stunde, Jedem Tage schöner blühn Und mit ihrer Himmelskunde Selig durchs Gemüte ziehn?

Träume, die wie hehere Strahlen In die Selle sich versenken Dort ein ewig Bild zu malen; Allvergessen, Eingedenken!

Träume, wie wenn Fruhlingsonne Aus dem Schnee die Blüten küßt, Daß zu nie geahnter Wonne Sie der neue Tage begrüßt, Daß sie wachsen, daß sie blühen, Träumend spenden ihren Duft, Sanft an deiner Brust verglühen Und dann sinken in die Gruft.

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Dreams Say, what wondrous dreams hold my soul captive, and have not, like bubbles, disappeared into darkest night?

Dreams, which in every hour of every day beautifully bloom and with their heavenly imitations blissfully float through my mind?

Dreams, that like glorious rays penetrate the soul, there to leave an everlasting impression: All-forgetting, single-minded!

Dreams, as when the spring sun kisses blossoms from the snow, that to undreamed-of bliss the new day can greet them, So they grow, so they flower, dreamily casting their scent, softly fade upon your breast, and then sink into their grave

Le tombeau des Naïades Le long du bois couvert de givre, je marchais; Mes cheveux devant ma bouche Se fleurissaient de petits glaçons, Et mes sandales étaient lourdes De neige fangeuse et tassée.

The tomb of the water‑nymphs I was walking along in the frostcovered woods; in front of my mouth my hair blossomed in tiny icicles, and my sandals were heavy with muddy caked snow.

Il me dit: "Que cherches-tu?"

Je suis la trace du satyre.

Ses petits pas fourchus alternent Comme des trous dans un manteau blanc.

Il me dit: "Les satyres sont morts.

He asked: "What are you looking for?"

"I'm following the tracks of the satyr his little cloven hoofprints alternate like holes in a white cloak."

He said: "The satyrs are dead.

"The satyrs are dead, and the nymphs "Les satyres et les nymphes aussi. too.

Depuis trente ans, il n'a pas fait un hiver In thirty years there has not been such aussi terrible. a terrible winter.

La trace que tu vois est celle d'un bouc. That's the trail of a he-goat.

Mais restons ici, où est leur tombeau."

But let's pause here, where their tomb is."

Et avec le fer de sa houe il cassa la glace With his hoe he broke the ice De la source ou jadis riaient les naïades. of the spring where the water-nymphs Il prenait de grands morceaux froids, used to laugh.

Et les soulevant vers le ciel pâle, There he was, picking up large cold Il regardait au travers. slabs of ice, lifting them toward the pale sky, and peering through them.

Poems Pierre Louys (1870 - 1925) English translation by Peter Low copyright © 2000