This is the third of Mahler's three Ruckert songs, recorded in Vienna with Bruno Walter.
By mid 1952 she was realising there would be no recovery from her illness, and these series of recordings are sung with great feeling and from the heart. The last few minutes, as it rises to a crescendo-"At Midnight I felt a single pang of pain, at Midnight". Almost unbearably moving, knowing the circumstances, and pain, in which the recordings were made.
When Kathleen and Bruno Walter parted, following a full range of recordings in 1952they knew instinctively they would never meet again.
Walter introduced her to the Mahler and Brahm's repertoire, and could not praise her enough. Walter had been a pupil, and friend of Mahler.
It was the collaboration between Kathleen and Walter which re-ignited the interest in Mahler in the post Second World War period, and which continues to the present time.
Um Mitternacht
Hab' ich gewacht
Und aufgeblickt zum Himmel;
Kein Stern vom Sterngewimmel
Hat mir gelacht
Um Mitternacht.
Um Mitternacht
Hab' ich gedacht
Hinaus in dunkle Schranken.
Es hat kein Lichtgedanken
Mir Trost gebracht
Um Mitternacht.
Um Mitternacht
Nahm ich in acht
Die Sc
hläge meines Herzens;
Ein einz'ger Puls des Schmerzes
War angefacht
Um Mitternacht.
Um Mitternacht
Kämpft' ich die Schlacht,
O Menschheit, deiner Leiden;
Nicht konnt' ich sie entscheiden
Mit meiner Macht
Um Mitternacht.
Um Mitternacht
Hab' ich die Macht
In deine Hand gegeben!
Herr
! über Tod und Leben
Du hältst die Wacht
Um Mitternacht!
At midnight
Language: English
At midnight
I awoke
and gazed up to heaven;
No star in the entire mass
did smile down at me
at midnight.
At midnight
I projected my thoughts
out past the dark barriers.
No thought of light
brough
t me comfort
at midnight.
At midnight
I paid close attention
to the beating of my heart;
One single pulse of agony
flared up
at midnight.
At midnight
I fought the battle,
o Mankind, of your suffering;
I could not decide it
with my strength
at midnight.
At midnight
I surrendered my
strength
into your hands!
Lord! over death and life
You keep watch
at midnight!
See more videos uploaded by lochness11
I would cast a vote for Fritz Wunderlich too as another important lied guy, his early death notwithstanding.
In Wunderlich's case he left few recordings but what's there are absolutely stunning. So, in that sense he was important.
Thankyou for the tip! I love these songs. I have a recording by JB . They break my heart! The first time I listened to them I had to stop half way through! I got as far as 'Wenn dein Mutterlein...' I was sobbing.We are blessed that we can still hear these great singers today and don't have to rely on what other people simply say about their singing. Many thanks for your hard work posting these videos!
Oh no no no....Mahler is not just another composer! EVER,,,,oh my!
He composed some of the most amazing music ever. I sang songs of him in college. I really loved the Kinder Toten Leider.
Your biggest Fan..
DEB
Hope I didn't upset your day too much!(joke).
Take care now.
I wonder, (hmmmmmmm) if Kathleen F ever
recorded the Kinder Toten Lieder....
deb
ète qui laissa toute la place à la musique et à l'émotion qu'elle sussite. K. Ferrier chantait du plus haut d'elle même, sa voix est la Voix du ciel et des anges qui nous consolent
échirante, aussi profonde... il eût certainement cru que l'enfant mort chante encore... et couvre d'un linceul de lumière son inconsolable désespoir, son irrémédiable peine... La seule voix qui me tire des larmes dès la première note - si tant est que les larmes signifient quelque chose, cer
tes -
- one of the most intense exhibition of human Pain in vocal art ever
- a timbre full of endless tears her voice always reminds me of Dante's lyric abou "le lagrimae rerum", the tears by which the world is made