Dear Friends,
I’m so happy to offer you this song by Brahms:
Schön war, das ich dir weihte
a setting by Johannes Brahms (1833 — 1897) of the poem by Georg Friedrich Daumer (1800 — 1875); Herr Daumer’s poem is a translation from the Turkish.
Schön war, das ich dir weihte,
Das goldene Geschmeide,
Süß war der Laute Ton,
Die ich dir auserlesen;
Das Herze, das sie beide
Darbrachte, wert gewesen
Wär's, zu empfangen einen bessern Lohn.
My translation:
Lovely was my offering to you, the golden jewelry;
Sweet of sound, the lute I chose for you.
The heart which brought both hither was worthy
Of a better reward.
The word I have translated as “to offer” — “weihen” — means “to consecrate”, as on an altar.
In Brahms’ setting, the “better reward” which might have been is suggested by the raised sixth note of the scale at the words “wär’s” and “einen bessern” (in each case, the B natural in the right hand of the piano part).
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