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Marietta’s Lied from Die tote Stadt, Op. 12

  • Composed by: Korngold
  • Composed: 1920
  • Duration: about 5 minutes
Orchestration: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, trumpet, bass trumpet, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (glockenspiel), 2 harps, piano, celesta, and strings, plus soprano

Text by Julius Korngold (pseud. Paul Schott)

MARIETTA (SOPRANO)*
Soll ich? Nun hören Sie.

Glück, das mir verblieb,
rück zu mir, mein treues Lieb.
Abend sinkt im Haag
bist mir Licht und Tag.
Bange pochet Herz an Herz
Hoffnung schwingt sich himmelwärts.

Wie wahr, ein traurig Lied.

Das Lied vom treuen Lieb,
das sterben muß.

Ich kenne das Lied.
Ich hört es oft in jungen,
in schöneren Tagen …
Es hat noch eine Strophe —
weiß ich sie noch?

Naht auch Sorge trüb,
rück zu mir, mein treues Lieb.
Neig dein blaß Gesicht.
Sterben trennt uns nicht.
Mußt du einmal von mir gehn,
glaub, es gibt ein Auferstehn.

Should I? Well, listen.

Happiness, all that remains with me,
return to me, my truest love.
Evening falls in the grove;
yet you are my light and day.
Heart to heart, anxiously beating,
while hope soars toward the heavens.

How true, a sad song.

The song of true love,
bound to die.

I know this song.
I heard it often in my youth,
in happier days …
There is another stanza —
do I still remember it?

Even though worry clouds your heart,
return to me, my truest love.
Turn your pale face.
Death will not part us.
If ever you must leave me,
believe that you will rise again.

*In the opera, this scene is a duet between Marietta and Paul, but both parts are often sung by a single soprano soloist in concert, as in tonight’s performance.