Quatuor Akilone

Die Mainacht
Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty
Wann der silberne Mond durch die Gesträuche blinkt,
Und sein schlummerndes Licht über den Rasen streut,
Und die Nachtigall flötet,
Wandl’ ich traurig von Busch zu Busch.
Überhüllet vom Laub, girret ein Taubenpaar
Sein Entzücken mir vor; aber ich wende mich,
Suche dunklere Schatten,
Und die einsame Träne rinnt.
Wann, o lächelndes Bild, welches wie Morgenrot
Durch die Seele mir strahlt, find’ ich auf Erden dich?
Und die einsame Träne
Bebt mir heißer die Wang’ herab.

May Night
When the silvery moon gleams through the bushes,
And sheds its slumbering light on the grass,
And the nightingale is fluting,
I wander sadly from bush to bush.
Covered by leaves, a pair of doves
Coo to me their ecstasy; but I turn away,
Seek darker shadows,
And the lonely tear flows down.
When, O smiling vision, that shines through my soul
Like the red of dawn, shall I find you here on earth?
And the lonely tear
Quivers more ardently down my cheek.

Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)

The Night of May, a poem by Hölty and set to music by Fanny Hensel and Brahms, both born in Hamburg and brought up in these lands near the North Sea, expresses well the enchanting spirit and evocative power of Nature in Romantic thought. Brahms and Hensel were both inspired by the work of Beethoven, who himself drew his inspiration from his country ballads, as well as from many poets in common: he even tinkles the magic lyre in his quartet called the Harps.

Three German-born composers, very good pianists, with an open mind on an enchanted nature that serves as a vector for the most intimate emotions.

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
String quartet in E flat major n.10 op.74 "The Harps"    30'

Fanny MENDELSSOHN (1805-1847)
String quartet in E flat major    20'

Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
String quartet in A minor op.51 n.2    33'