1. |
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In die Traum - und Zaubersphäre
Sind wir, scheint es, eingegangen.
Führ uns gut und mach dir Ehre
Daß wir vorwärts bald gelangen
In den weiten, öden Räumen!
Seh die Bäume hinter Bäumen,
Wie sie schnell vorüberrücken,
Und die Klippen, die sich bücken,
Und die langen Felsennasen,
Wie sie schnarchen, wie sie blasen!
Durch die Steine, durch den Rasen
Eilet Bach und Bächlein nieder.
Hör ich Rauschen? hör ich Lieder?
Hör ich holde Liebesklage,
Stimmen jener Himmelstage?
Was wir hoffen, was wir lieben!
Und das Echo, wie die Sage
Alter Zeiten, hallet wider.
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2. |
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Wie seltsam glimmert durch die Gründe
Ein morgenrötlich trüber Schein!
Und selbst bis in die tiefen Schlünde
Des Abgrunds wittert er hinein.
Da steigt ein Dampf, dort ziehen Schwaden,
Hier leuchtet Glut aus Dunst und Flor
Dann schleicht sie wie ein zarter Faden
Dann bricht sie wie ein Quell hervor.
Hier schlingt sie eine ganze Strecke
Mit hundert Adern sich durchs Tal,
Und hier in der gedrängten Ecke
Vereinzelt sie sich auf einmal.
Da sprühen Funken in der Nähe
Wie ausgestreuter goldner Sand.
Doch schau! in ihrer ganzen Höhe
Entzündet sich die Felsenwand.
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3. |
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Es schweigt der Wind, es flieht der Stern,
Der trübe Mond verbirgt sich gern.
Im Sausen sprüht das Zauberchor
Viel tausend Feuerfunken hervor. <...>
Es trägt der Besen, trägt der Stock
Die Gabel trägt, es trägt der Bock
Wer heute sich nicht heben kann
Ist ewig ein verlorner Mann. <...>
Die Salbe gibt den Hexen Mut,
Ein Lumpen ist zum Segel gut
Ein gutes Schiff ist jeder Trog
Der flieget nie, der heut nicht flog.
Und wenn wir um den Gipfel ziehn,
So streichet an dem Boden hin
Und deckt die Heide weit und breit
Mit eurem Schwarm der Hexenheit.
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4. |
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Alles, alles scheint zu drehen,
Fels und Bäume, die Gesichter
Schneiden, und die irren Lichter,
Die sich mehren, die sich blähen. <...>
Wie rast die Windsbraut durch die Luft! <...>
Hörst du Stimmen in der Höhe? <...>
Ja, den ganzen Berg entlang
Strömt ein wütender Zaubergesang!
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5. |
The Haunted Palace
07:53
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In the greenest of our valleys
By good angels tenanted,
Once a fair and stately palace-
Radiant palace-reared its head.
In the monarch Thought's dominion-
It stood there!
Never seraph spread a pinion
Over fabric half so fair!
Banners yellow, glorious, golden,
On its roof did float and flow,
(This-all this-was in the olden
Time long ago,)
And every gentle air that dallied,
In that sweet day,
Along the ramparts plumed and pallid,
A winged odor went away.
Wanderers in that happy valley,
Through two luminous windows, saw
Spirits moving musically,
To a lute's well-tuned law,
Round about a throne where, sitting
(Porphyrogene!)
In state his glory well-befitting,
The ruler of the realm was seen.
And all with pearl and ruby glowing
Was the fair palace door,
Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing,
And sparkling evermore,
A troop of Echoes, whose sweet duty
Was but to sing,
In voices of surpassing beauty,
The wit and wisdom of their king.
But evil things, in robes of sorrow,
Assailed the monarch's high estate.
(Ah, let us mourn!-for never morrow
Shall dawn upon him desolate!)
And round about his home the glory
That blushed and bloomed,
Is but a dim-remembered story
Of the old time entombed.
And travellers, now, within that valley,
Through the red-litten windows see
Vast forms, that move fantastically
To a discordant melody,
While, like a ghastly rapid river,
Through the pale door
A hideous throng rush out forever
And laugh-but smile no more.
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6. |
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7. |
Waking Up
03:28
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I fell asleep on a glassy morning of Spring,
An April wind was humming on the top of a hill.
I woke up – golden birch leaves were falling,
I was sleeping, while my life elapsed.
I rose and went into the distance and into the silence,
And only the Moon and the shadow were following.
I found nothing, all my lady-loves grew old,
And my father, mother are lying under the ground.
This land is beautiful and independent,
And I do not depend on or belong to anyone.
And this land turned alien to me, like Chinese script,
I bestow everything to You, but this song I give to myself.
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8. |
My Little Star
03:13
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Tonight I am forgotten
By all ships and oceans,
But there is above the clouds
My little star...
When one cannot fall asleep,
When one closes a sallow novel -
Through the window watches from afar
My little star...
When one is left alone on a road,
When all caravans have passed away,
It is close, very close indeed
My little star...
And if I turn into a grain of sand of a hill,
Or a small field birch, or a forest moss,
Truly, it will be visiting me,
My little star...
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9. |
Melody
04:10
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There is such a melody,
White as an apple-tree.
The clock has shown it to me -
But it is not meant for me.
For me it looked like a martin
When it was diving in a cloud -
Up and down the melody
"Fa do mi la do ti".
It was resounding not in a guitar,
But in a brook‘s evening.
It was hanged like a shawl
On a "sol la ti do re".
It was chanted by gardens in the morning:
"Do ti la sol fa mi..."
This melody has left,
But it left without me...
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10. |
In the Black Night
02:51
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Whither has the lantern gone tonight
Leaving a home?
Who is knocking at the door -
Is it a ghost, or is it a wind?
I am afraid to open,
I creep under a broom.
The uncle Morning has not horsed in yet,
Maybe he was arrested?
A shadow feast and a witch hunt
Is taking place in the yard,
A green moon is hiding,
Apparitions are gathering.
All with green legs, green arms -
Such a fearsome crowd!
One of then, being eyeless,
Is staring at me through the window.
Another unbidden guest
Being headless, is thinking,
Yet another armless one yonder in a corner
Is menacing to grab my leg.
Four of them are carrying a coffin,
The fifth one brings a scythe,
The sixth toothless yonder at the gate
Is eating the seventh.
Do not fancy, I will not cry,
I will not get lost in the bed.
I will focus, I will open my eyes -
I will see nothing.
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11. |
Yesterday
04:50
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It rains all day, it rains all night -
A summer will not return here...
Please, lay me a bed of sages -
I am tired, mother, I am tired...
I am tired to walk and not to arrive,
I am tired to go back and not to return,
Tell me, mother, do You allow me
To unfasten all roads off my knees?
The rain is raining... You tell me nothing,
You make my bed and stroke my hair....
Only somebody, quiet as a moan, says in a dream:
"Travel, while there is still a road..."
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12. |
The Nothing Song
02:43
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When I was sitting on the sand
Glancing back to the foretime,
Then a little cloud broke into tears
Feeling sorry for me.
When the little cloud broke into tears,
The morning closed its eyes,
On a spot where I was seated
A teardrop fell onto the sand.
And the teardrop hewed out
Something in a wilderness of dunes:
A blue one, but not a lake,
A green one, but not a forest.
And I went not into the forest,
And I forded not into the lake,
There were neither trees nor gulls,
There was only a song for me.
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13. |
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I will leave via broad highways,
I will leave and shall not ruturn...
I haven‘t seen anything decent here
I haven‘t found a connection.
A gang of alien balloonists
Have occupied all the lines -
I do not comprehend their speach
as if they were from China.
There are plenty of roads on Earth,
Plenty of travelers, caravans...
There are even more various businesses,
But they all are not mine...
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Giedrius Alkauskas Vilnius, Lithuania
Giedrius Alkauskas (b. 1978) is a contemporary Lithuanian composer. Influences range from romantic German and Russian music, opera of various periods, folk music of various cultural traditions, XXth century composers, like B. Bartók, S. Prokofiev and C. Debussy. Inspirations come from poetry, art, mythology, psychology, religion, nature. He has written song cycles, dance suites, chamber music. ... more
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