On Monday night I attended a outstanding concert at Manchester by the touring Philharmonia Orchestra under Lorin Maazel playing Mahler's 'Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen' ('Songs of a Wayfarer') and the Symphony No.1. There were no texts available for 'Songs of a Wayfarer' song cycle on the night. The only place that I have seen the complete texts are on Wikipedia. Does anyone know if the texts are not readily available because of copyright reasons?
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I've heard these songs performed many times over the years and have always found the words and translation printed in the programme.
It sounds more like a cost cutting measure by the concert promoter, and a regrettable one at that. -
I agree that one wants to be able to understand the songs, & unless you are fluent in the relevant language & have exceptionally good hearing printing the texts in the programme is neccessary. However, the disadvantage (in my experience) is that one tends to read the texts rather than listen to & watch the singer, missing the visual aspects of the performance, which, with a good singer, can add to the meaning.
Perhaps (& I'm not being facetious here
) surtitles could be the (or an) answer? You still have to read them, & they do distract from the singer, but at least you'd be looking at the stage rather than down in your lap.
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Yes, surtitles can be very useful. The RSNO used them to good effect in a recent performance of Graffiti by Magnus Lindberg.
My only reservation is that you can't avoid seeing the surtitles, unless you close your eyes, and some people just don't like them.
At least with the printed words in the programme you have an option which doesn't disturb others to the same extent. (Noisy page fingering excluded!!!)Comment
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No copyright issues here: Mahler is dead for a century and the original texts have never been within copyright.Originally posted by Stanford's Legacy View Post
The texts are to be found in most of the CDs with these songs, and e.g. also in the excellent Mahler book compiled by Deryck Cooke (with all the texts used by Mahler, though without the 3 youth songs which were only published after the book's latest edition).Comment
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Thank you all for your assistance. I am most grateful.Comment
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Out of interest who sang them on Monday evening?Originally posted by Stanford's Legacy View PostComment
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Just had a look at my LP version of Lieder eines fahrenden gesellen, sung by Janet Baker. There is a leaflet with the german texts, written by Mahler himself (except for 'Ich bin der welt abhanden gekommen' which is by Friedrich Ruckert) and set to music in 1885, and english translations, copyright William Mann 1957 and 1958. I think english copyright expires after fifty years (seventy in the USA), though I'm not absolutely sure about that: however, I would guess Mann's translations, would now be out of copyright.
Personally, I wouldnt want to follow a singer's performance of these songs word for word, because I would be more interested in the music, but I would like to have a general idea of what the song was about, and for that I need the texts in translation, because I cant speak german.Comment
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The Wayfarer Songs were sung by American born mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung.Comment
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http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/cindex.html will give you texts for much of the world's art-song repertoire, and English - and other - translations for the commoner stuff.I keep hitting the Escape key, but I'm still here!Comment
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Cant go wrong there, with that soloist! Must have been a pretty good concert with that combination!Don’t cry for me
I go where music was born
J S Bach 1685-1750Comment
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Thank you both. I had forgotten about the Song/Leider texts avaiable on the site: http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/cindex.html
Yes, the concert was wonderful. Lorin Maazel just gets better and better and is a superb Mahler condcutor. This part of his Mahler pilgrimage condcuting all of the symphonies and song cycles I think. His interpretation of the final movement of the First Symphony was near earth shattering.Comment
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I first encountered this work when I played with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by the great Bruno Walter in the Royal Festival Hall in 1956.**
The soloist in that performance was Dietrich Fischer Dieskau, but since that time, I have only heard it sung by female soloists, like those mentioned in these posts.
Which do you prefer? I believe the wayfaring lad should be a baritone and leave the kindertotenlieder to the ladies. (I have Kathleen Ferrier's famous recording with Bruno Walter conducting the VSO)
** The other work in that concert was Mahler's first symphony. Absolutely fantastic!
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