Marietta's Lied

Last evening, I attended a concert which featured music compositions by two Jewish composers, Kurt Weill and Erich Korngold, written around the time of WWII (pre and post).

One aria that was performed was Korngold's "Marietta's Lied" from the opera "Die tote Stadt." If I had ever heard this aria before last evening, I do not recall it in the least. But last night it peaked my curiousity because it is not only a perfect aria for me to learn but it also touches upon a topic very dear to me and probably to most of us who breath and rationalize. That being love.

My current love life is definitely lacking, but that is not to say that I have not or do not presently love. But the pain of love, that which exists simultaneously with love, is real. This is precisely what "Marietta's Lied" speaks of. Here is the translation:

Joy, that near to me remains,

Come to me my true love

Night sinks into the grove.

You are my light and day.

Anxiously beats heart on heart.

Hope itself soars heavenward.

How true, a sad song.

The song of true love,

that must die.

I know the song.

I heard it often in younger,

in better days.

It has yet another verse.

Do I know it still?

Though sorrow becomes dark,

Come to me, my true love.

Lean (to me) your pale face.

Death will not separate us.

If you must leave me one day,

Believe, there is an afterlife.

That which jumps out at me is the phrase, "Do I know it still?" Do I? It has been quite some time since I have been in a relationship or been loved with mutual affection, but does that make my love less real? I think not. And although I do not know mutual love, I know that which is unexplainable. That which does not necessarily require two hearts. I know my one heart's love is sufficient.

"Marietta's Lied" performed by Elizabeth Schwarzkopf.....ENJOY THE BEAUTY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoGQd1dsAlw