Morgen! Op. 27, No. 4, (Richard Strauss)

Morgen is the last in a set of four songs German composer of the late Romatic period Richard Georg Strauss (June 11, 1864 – September 8, 1949).

The love poem "Morgen!" was written by Strauss' contemporary John Henry Mackay (Greenock, Scotland, 1864 – May 16, 1933 Berlin, Germany). Born in Scotland of German mother, the individualist, anarchist, thinker, and writer Mackay grew up in Germany, being his work written in German language.

Strauss put music to Morgen in 1894, after having met Mackay in Berlin, remaining to this day one of Strauss most well-known and widely represented pieces of work. The orchestral setting followed soon after the composition, in 1897.

Among the numerous recordings for this song, which continue increasing, there are presently recordings in alphabetical order by Arleen Auger, Montserrat Caballe, Lisa della Casa, Melanie Diener, Renee Fleming, Heather Harper, Anja Harteros, Barbara Hendricks, Soile Isokoski, Gundula Janowitz, Sena Jurinac, Michaela Kaune, Hanne-Lore Kuhse, Felicity Lott, Charlotte Margiono, Karita Mattila, Ricarda Merbeth, Elisabeth Meyer-Topsoe, Birgit Nilsson, Jessye Norman, Adrianne Pieczonka, Lucia Popp, Leontyne Price, Anneliese Rothenberger, Anne Schwanewilms, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth Söderström, Nina Stemme, Cheryl Studer, Sharon Sweet, Kiri Te Kanawa, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Deborah Voigt.

The poem itself and its English version read as follows:

Morgen!Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen,und auf dem Wege, den ich gehen werde,wird uns, die Seligen, sie wieder einen,immitten dieser sonnenatmenden Erde…Und zu dem Strand, dem weiten, wogenblauen,werden wir still und langsam niedersteigen.Stumm werden wir uns in die Augen schauen,und auf uns sinkt des Glückes stummes Schweigen.

TomorrowTomorrow again will shine the sunAnd on my sunlit path of earthUnite us again, as it has done,And give our bliss another birth.The spacious beach under wave-blue skiesWe’ll reach by descending soft and slow,And mutely gaze in each other’s eyes,As over us rapture’s great hush will flow.

ee also

*Richard Strauss
*John Henry Mackay

References

* [http://artsongcentral.com/2008/strauss-morgen/ Sheet music for Morgen]
* [http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=24902 Text and translations for Morgen]
* [http://www.geocities.com/rmlibonati/vocal.html Reviews of recordings]
* [http://www.glbtq.com/literature/mackay_jh.html GLBTQ oriented bio of Mackay]
* [http://home.pacbell.net/hubertk/ Homepage of author of the above article]