Translation, pronunciation and interpretation guide on W. A. Mozart’s aria “Ach, ich fühl’s” from the opera “Die Zauberflöte”
Aria text
Ach, ich fühl’s, es ist verschwunden, Ah, I feel it, it has disappeared
Ewig hin der Liebe Glück! Forever gone love’s happiness!
Nimmer kommt ihr Wonnestunden Never will the hours of bliss come
Meinem Herzen mehr zurück! Back to my heart!
Sieh’, Tamino, diese Tränen, See, Tamino, these tears,
Fließen, Trauter, dir allein! Flowing, beloved, for you alone!
Fühlst du nicht der Liebe Sehnen, If you don’t feel the longing of love
So wird Ruh’ im Tode sein! Then there will be peace in death!
Background
This aria is sung by Pamina, the Queen of the Night’s daughter in the second act of Mozart’s best-known opera “Die Zauberflöte”.
Pamina was kidnapped by evil Sarastro, the Queen’s enemy. The Queen sends Tamino, a young prince, to rescue her daughter; he sets out, accompanied by Papageno a bird-trader and “strange bird” (himself).
When Tamino reaches Sarastro’s temple he learns that Sarastro is not evil but good; he enters the temple to find Pamina (and eventually become a member of Sarastro’s crew). (For a detailed description of the plot, click here)
When Tamino and Pamina see each other for the first time they both fall in love with each other. The more bitter it is for Pamina when she meets Tamino for the second time and he does not talk to her! Not knowing that he has taken a vow of silence , she, of course, thinks that he does not love her (anymore)
In the aria “Ach ich fühl’s”, Pamina expresses her sadness and despair over Tamino’s silence and rejection, announcing suicide at the end.
“Ach, ich fühl’s…”
The aria is written in a deeply-sad G minor key and begins with a very short orchestral foreplay, resembling a funeral march before the soprano (Pamina) sings – or rather sighs – her first words “Ach, ich fühl’s”.
These three words already bear three difficulties for non-German singers: the two different CH-sounds of “ach” and “ich” and the Umlaut “Ü”.
In this blog post here, you can read about the ach/ich-sounds and here you will find more about the formation of a correct German Ü.
Although there is a break after “ach”, the phrase should be sung in one breath leading towards “fühl’s” where the emphasis lies.
“…es ist entschwunden…”
(In some versions: „es ist verschwunden“): make sure the „es“ is a pure open German „e“ not an „ö“. Keep your mouth position for the “ist”, it will make the leap to the G sharp much easier. Also, pay attention to the two “t”s in “ist” and “entschwunden”: they must be audibly articulated but not over-exaggerated.
The consonant cluster in “entschwunden” may seem difficult at first. Practice it slowly and support very well. If you then keep in mind that both the “n” and the “w” are voiced consonants and that the “sch” represents only one sound, the perceived three million consonants have melted down to two. ? The emphasis in this phrase lies on the “schwund” of “entschwunden”, not on “ist”.
“…ewig hin der Liebe Glück.”
As here we have almost only two vocals in different facettes (“e:” and “i:/y:”), keep the position of your mouth in nearly the same position throughout the whole phrase. On “ewig” we have the first small coloratura. Sing it as legato as possible and make sure to have perfect pitch of the D in “ewig” which sometimes tends to be flat.
The repetition of this phrase is very tricky regarding vowel colouring. Especially the leap from “der” to “Liebe” (B flat) can only be managed with a lot of support on the letter “d” of “der” and an adjustment of the [i:] vowel in “Liebe”. It may help you to think an [a:] while singing the [i:].
The [y:] of “Glück”, however, must not be changed. “Glick” is not right.
“Nimmer kommt ihr Wonnestunden…”
In my opinion, this short phrase in major key is the saddest part of the aria. Bittersweet, it is both reminiscence of the “Wonnestunden” and the realization that these hourse of joy and bliss will never come back again. Notice that we have three consonant pairs which make the preceding vowel short and open: “nimmer”, “kommt” and “Wonne”.
The [i:] in “ihr” is the only long and closed vowel here.
“…meinem Herzen mehr zurück.”
The first phrase is sung slightly pushing forward as realization sinks in. Its repetition, with this beautiful but tricky legato line may resemble some inward (!) sobbing. Take a good breath before “meinem” to sing through to the staccatti and maybe even to the end of the phrase. Make the “k”-sound of “Glück” very pronounced.
“Sieh, Tamino…”
“Sieh, Tamino”: For the first time in the whole aria Pamina addresses Tamino directly, i.e. going from inward contemplation to actual speaking. Sing it on one breath and make sure to keep the support during the break between “sieh” and “Tamino”. Some singers do this part in a more dramatic way, thus expressing the outward communication (or the attempt of it); others make it a very tender approach, impersonating the woman traumatized by rejection. How you interpret this passage is up to you (and the conductor) but make sure that it stays Mozart and does not become a Wagner or Puccini.
“…diese Tränen fließen, Trauter, dir allein.”
The phrase moves forward as Pamina shows her tears: “diese Tränen fließen, Trauter, dir allein”, appealing to Tamino’s compassion. Take note of the following diction issues:
⫸ Pronounce the “t”s of “Tränen” and “trauter” clearly;
⫸ The “s” of diese” is voiced, the “ß” in “fließen” is unvoiced.
⫸ The only sure [r]-sound is the one in “Tränen”. The “r” in Trauter is a [ə], “dir” is usually pronounced as [di:a], followed by a glottal onset of “allein”. It may be pronounced with a one-flap “r” to avoid this onset. In the latter case, the “r” must not be more than a hint.
“Fühlst du nicht der Liebe sehnen,…”
“Fühlst du nicht der Liebe Sehnen”: The combination of the “t” at the end of “fühlst” and the “d” at the beginning of “du” is a bit difficult. With the rhythm, it is impossible to pronounce both expressly so we make a short stop at the “s” of fühlst, prolonging it slightly (!) and pronouncing the “d” of “du” a bit more articulate than usual. The “I”s of “nicht” and “Liebe” have once more to be adjusted towards an “a” as both lie on an A flat and B flat and are sung very piano, resembling an almost soundless cry.
“…so wird Ruh im Tode sein.”
“So wird Ruh im Tode sein“. Here we have only dark, dull vowels (o, u, a [zaen], determining the bleak atmosphere of Pamina’s last words in this aria where she announces suicide. Make sure to make the “m” of “im Tode” audible, its nasal characteristic will help you.
A further challenge in this phrase is the octave leap of the second “so wird Ruh”; it may help you to make a breathy, unvoiced “r” sound (one-tap flap) and set the “u” of “Ruh” onto the G sharp, i.e. not start on the G sharp with an audible rolled “r”.
“Im Tode sein” is repeated three times. It seems to me (but again, this is only my interpretation) that the first time Pamina sings these words, she is just speaking (or rather: singing) her first thoughts out loudly, frightening back when she actually hears herself say it (pay attention to the dissonant chord). She then tries again the taste of the words “im Tode sein”, culminating in a very quiet, yet determined, last repetition.
Conclusion
I think the most difficult aspect of this aria is that Mozart’s “Zauberflöte” is the most frequently played opera in the world and a large part of your audience will know the arias by heart and in manifold interpretations. Despite its deceptive simplicity it is not easy to perform (a characteristic that is a rule with all Mozart’s music), not only for pronunciation reasons but also because it is sung almost throughout in piano and with difficult legato lines, accompanied quite sparsely.
Below I have attached two recordings of this aria.
One is sung by Tiana Lemnitz (a recording of 1937 )
Translation, pronunciation guide and interpretation tips on “Erlkönig” by Franz Schubert
Historical background
„Der Erlkönig” is a famous ballad by the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, written in 1778 as part of a singspiel. It tells the story of a father riding home with his ill son by night through the woods. The son has increasingly severe hallucinations of a creature he calls the alder king who he imagins speaks to him and attempts to pull him into his kingdom. The father tries to calm the child and hurries to get back home with him. When he enters his court, the boy has died in his arms.
The story goes back to the traditional Danish ballad “Elverskud” where the elf-king’s daughters try to lure humans to satisfy their desires. The Danish “elverkonge” originally means “king of the elves” and has nothing to to with alders (the German “Erlkönig” translates literally as “Alder King”). It has often been suggested that “Erlkönig” is a mistranslation.
Erlkönig
Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
er fasst ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.
„Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?“
„Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig Mit Kron und Schweif?“
„Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif.“
„Du liebes Kind, komm geh mit mir!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel ich mit dir;
Manch bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand,
meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand.“
„Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht,
was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?“
„Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind;
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind.“
„Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn?
Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn
Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein.
„Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?“
„Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau,
es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau.“
„Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt,
und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt.“
„Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt fasst er mich an!
Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!“
Dem Vater grausets, er reitet geschwind,
er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind,
erreicht den Hof mit Müh und Not;
in seinen Armen das Kind war tot.
Approaches of Interpretation
The story has been interpreted in several ways:
1. The first is more or less similar to the actual text: the boy is ill and hallucinates because of his high fever of which he dies in the end.
2. The boy is a victim of sexual abuse through the father who is shown with two faces: the abusive father (the Erlkönig) and the good, protective father who tries to blandish his deeds by calming the child and telling him that he imagines things.
3. A third variant is that the Erlkönig is a symbol for the boy’s awakening lust of puberty and that he attempts to pull the boy into his kingdom with erotic fantasies. The boy loses his innocence and his childhood. His death stands for the entering of the adult world, sexuality and his breaking away of his family. The father tries to prevent that by bringing him back home in time, but the arising male urges cannot be stopped.
Linguistic and Formal Analysis
The poem consists of eight stanzas with four verses in the pattern AABB. This accentuates the dialogue-like character of the ballad, e.g. in the dialogues between father and son. The son opens each stanza with the question if the father didn’t hear or see the Erlkönig (V13/14, V21/22). The father answers always rationally, explaining the images as being natural phenomena (fog, dried leaves, old willow trees). Goethe was one of the first writers of nature-magical ballads that showed the conflict between popular beliefs (son) and the ratio of the enlightened man (father).
The ballad has been set to music by several composers. This article treats the version of Franz Schubert who composed this art song in 1815. He revised the song three times before publishing it in 1821. Schubert’s “Erlkönig” is through-composed with a constantly changing harmonic structure as the piece modulates within characters.
In the ballad, four people are represented by a single singer: a narrator, the father, the son and the alder king. Each person has its own range of voice and many singers give each part a different colour of voice.
The narrator sings in middle range, starting in minor key.
The father sings in deep range, singing in minor and major mode.
The son sings in the highest range, mostly in minor mode.
The Erlkönig sings in mid range and in major mode
The Music of Franz Schubert’s “Erlkönig”
Stanza One
The song starts with a piano foreplay; the music is agitated, imitating the rhythm of horse hooves with rapid triplets and introducing a leitmotif in the left hand. A narrator sings the first words of the melody, starting in G minor: “Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind? Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind.” [Who rides that late through night and wind? It is the father with his child.] Both, the words and the music create a spooky and sinister atmosphere. All vocals (except the “I” in “Wind” and “Kind”) are dark sounds, adding to the gloomness. Although “spät” is held for three quarters (and you of course may breathe after it), the phrase should not be interrupted. Make sure to hold the tension until “Wind”.
The next words show a contrast and describe how the father protectively holds the child in his arms: “Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm, er fasst ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.” [He has the child well in his arm, he holds him safely, he holds him warm.].
Stanza Two
We are zooming in on the rider and ending in a close-up of father and son until we can hear them speak to each other: “Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?” [My son, why are you looking so fearful?]. The father’s part starts a fifth deeper than the narrator’s, beginning with a low D and moves within small intervals (a third being the largest). The rising, temporarily even chromatic melody line shows that the father, despite his calm words, is worried. And he has every reason to be: the son tells him in a fearful whisper (pp) about a creature, the Erlkönig, he imagines seeing: “Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht? Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif?” [Father, don’t you see the alder king? The alder king with crown and cape?]. By the way: the German word “Schweif” not only means ‘cape’ or ‘train’ but also ‘tail’ which may be a sexual allusion.
The father, tries to calm his son by telling him that he has mistoken the fog for a person. “Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif” [My son, it is a streak of fog.].
Stanza Three
Enter the Erlkönig! It is almost as if he were sitting right next to the boy, whispering into his ear: “Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir! Gar schöne Spiele spiel ich mit Dir;” [You lovely child, come, go with me! I will play wonderful games with you.]. The accompaniment changes for the first time, letting the hooves no longer sound agitated in a gloomy atmosphere but almost creating the impression of a joyful, carefree carriage ride in the sun. It is also notable, that the part begins and ends in a major key. The Erlkönig uses his power of seduction, beckoning the child to come with him, promising him “wonderful games” (again maybe a sexual allusion) and trying to lure the boy with [colourful flowers] (“bunte Blumen”) and [golden robes] (“gülden Gewand”).
Stanza Four
The boy is scared and wants to have the father’s confirmation of what he had just heard: ”Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht, was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?” [My father, my father and do you not hear what alder king is promising me?]. The melody is dominated by chromatics, increasing the expression of the boy’s fear and despair. Note, that the first part of the sentence (until “hörest du nicht”) is sung forte, while the second part is in piano, almost as if the boy was afraid of saying aloud what he experienced. Also, the plea is higher in pitch than the first one.
The father, however, does not give an answer to the boy’s question but commands him to be quiet: “Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind; in dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind.” [Be calm, stay calm, my child; the wind is rustling through dried leaves.]. As before, we can hear the worry underneath the calming words.
Stanza Five
Once again, the accompaniment changes, becoming almost dance-like, when the Erlkönig appears a second time:”Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn? Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön; meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein“ [Precious boy, do you not want to go with me? My daughters will wait on you, my daughters lead the nightly dance and rock and dance and sing you to sleep.]. The last part (“und singen und tanzen…”) is repeated, emphasizing the feeling of a dance or even a lullaby.
Stanza Six
The boy is even more agitated now and shouts out to his father that he sees Erlkönig’s daughters: “Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?” [My father, my father, and do you not see Erlkönig’s daughters in the gloomy place?]. A last time, the father tries to soothe the boy: “Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau, es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau“ [My son, my son, I see it clearly, there shimmer the old willows so grey.] Schubert gives this answer an even more agitated touch by inserting two fifth steps (“mein Sohn”, “genau”) and expanding the range to an octave. This and the fact that the father’s part for the first time end in a minor key show that he is very alarmed.
Stanza Seven
When the Erlkönig now appears for the last time, he does not bother to sugarcoat his intentions any longer; his words are explicit: “Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt, und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt!“ [I love you, I am excited by your beautiful body and if you are not willing, then I will use force!]
The piano accompaniment has not changed this time, which adds to the expressed threat. Also, the harmonies are characterized by dissonances and an increase in volume, and the loudest part of the song (fff) is the Erlkönig’s last words “so brauch ich Gewalt!”
The boy’s reaction comes almost instantly, and he cries out in horror and dispair: “Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt fasst er mich an! Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!” [My father, my father, he is touching me now! Erlkönig has hurt me!]. It is a statement now, no longer a question, that the boy, crazed with fear and having lost all control, cries out at the top of his voice. Note that the father does not reply to him now. He himself is overwhelmed with horror (or guilt). Words are no longer of use; he is forced to act.
Stanza Eight
The Lied enters its final part where the narrator describes the father’s feelings and reaction: “Dem Vater grauset’s, er reitet geschwind, er hält in den Armen das ächzende Kind“ [the father is terrified, he is riding swiftly on, he holds the groaning child in his arms]. The narrator as well is agitated which shows in the ascending notes, culminating in the word “ächzende” and the accelerando that drives the song to its end. After this agitated ride, symbolized by the piano with volume, increasing tempo and dynamics, the father finally reaches his farm or courtyard. “Erreicht den Hof mit Müh und Not;“ [he reaches the courtyard with great difficulties ]. The tempo slows down and the accompaniment stops completely after “Müh und Not”, adding an even more dramatic effect to the last words: “In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.” [In his arms the child was dead]. As the piano has ceased to play, rhythm and tempo vanish into the background and the last words “war tot” have an almost recitative-like Quality.
It is notable that the last verb is in the past tense (“war tot” [was dead]) while the whole ballad is written in the present tense. As mentioned before, this could indicate that the boy’s innocence died due to a sexual abuse or that he crossed the threshold from boy to man.
Conclusion
Schubert’s “Erlkönig” is a masterpiece of the Romantic Age and the genre of through-composed art songs that started for a reason with Franz Schubert.
At his time, Schubert’s setting to music of the “Erlkönig” with all its complicated harmonies and dissonances was something totally new to the audience. Nevertheless (or because of that) it was celebrated as a masterpiece. The composition is daring, virtuous, hard to sing and to accompany. But even more so, it is close to the text, incredibly expressive and emotional.
There are those rare occasions where famous texts find a suitable artistic representation that become inextricably linked with the original. Schubert’s music of Goethe’s ballad “Der Erlkönig” is an example for that.
