Schumann - Heine-Lieder, Op. 53, Der Arme Peter - Wolfgang Holzmair, Imogen Cooper

Schumann - Heine-Lieder, Op. 53 - Der Arme Peter - Wolfgang Holzmair, Imogen Cooper
Abraham Solomon - Adélaïde Salles-Wagner - Adolf Theer - Adriano Cecchi - Ferdinand Bol - Francesco Beda
I
Hans and Grete dance about
and shout aloud for joy.
Peter stands so still and mute,
and is all white as chalk.
Hans and Grete are bridegroom and bride,
glittering in wedding finery.
Poor Peter bites his nails
and wears his working clothes.
Peter says softly to himself,
sadly eyeing the pair:
“Ah! if I weren’t so level-headed,
I’d do myself a mischief.”Back to Song List
II
Within my breast lies a woe
that will break my heart asunder:
wherever I stay, wherever I go,
it drives me ever onward.
“It drives me to be near my love,
as if Grete could heal my woe,
yet when I look into her eyes
I’m forced to hurry away.
“I climb to the mountain’s crest,
for there one is alone;
and when I stand quietly up there,
then I stand silent and weep.”
III
Poor Peter staggers by
very slowly, deathly pale and shy:
The people in the street
almost stop dead when they see him.
Girls whisper in each other’s ear:
“He must have risen from the grave.”
Ach no, dear young ladies,
in his grave he’s about to lie.
He has lost his sweetheart,
and so the grave is the best place
where he best may lie
and sleep until the Day of Judgement