Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Othmar Schoeck, Ach, wie schön ist Nacht und Dämmerschein




In 1919 Othmar Schoeck (Swiss, 1886-1957) composed the lied, or song, Ach, wie schön ist Nacht und Dämmerschein [O, how beautiful is night and the glimmer of candlelight], which is today's topic, using lyrics by Hafez, the great poet of Shiraz. Schoeck is best-known today for his lieder, or art songs, though he composed in many genres, including opera, chamber music, and orchestral music. He used as his source for today's song a book, Hafis—Eine Sammlung persische Gedichte [Hafez—a collection of Persian poems], by Georg Friedrich Daumer from 1846. 




Daumer's book of poems, title page.







The poem, from Daumer's book, pp. 137-8.


An image of the poem in fraktur type from Daumer's original book is reproduced above. Daumer's German text can also be found here, along with other valuable informationBelow are only the verses used by Schoeck in the song:

Ach, wie schön ist Nacht und Dämmerschein!

Ach, wie traulich unser Trinkverein!

Höret den musikisch bellen Ton! Was verkünden Flöten und Schalmein? 

"Lasset den Mysterien der lust ein verständig Ohr geöffnet sein! 

Rettet eure Seele, werfet ab des Betruges ekle Mummerein! 

Aller andern Bande ledig, schlingt euch in Lockenbande lieblich ein! 

Sollte wohl in diesem Kreise wer unbelebt vom Hauch der Liebe sein? 

Grabgebete betet über ihn, segnet ihn als Toten ein! 

Windet euren Arm um silberne Hüften her in einem Bad von Wein! 

Alles andre, predigt Schemseddin, ist verlorne Mühe, Qual und Pein."


O, how beautiful is night and the glimmer of candlelight!
O, how cozy our drinking club!

Hear the tones musically ringing! What do the flutes and shawms announce?
"Let your sensible ear be open to the mysteries of delight!

Save your soul, throw off the loathsome mask of deceit!
Free of all other bonds, entwine yourself in lovely ringlets!

Who in this circle should be unanimated by the breath of Love?
Say a graveside prayer over him; confirm him dead!

Wind your arm around silver hips in a bath of wine!
All else, preaches Shams al-Din, is forlorn toil, torment, and pain."


[my translation]



It has been speculated that Daumer's Hafez poems might actually have been written by Daumer himself in the style of Hafez. According to a dissertation by Amir Irani-Tehrani, "Persian Figures in German Letters," New York University (2008), this practice was common in that era in Germany when Hafez was extremely popular. Irani-Tehrani could not locate the book and could not determine whether Daumer's 'translations' were real or ersatz. A relevant portion of thdissertation is reproduced below:





Irani-Tehrani dissertation, pp. 348-9



Now Daumer's book is freely available on Google Books, as seen in the pages reproduced above. I cannot judge whether his verses are genuine translations of Hafez, nor can I determine whether Daumer knew any Persian or not. Whatever the answer to that question, it is remarkable that Schoeck and many other Western composers were inspired by the verses of Hafez—or at least by translations, versions, and imitations of his verses—hundreds of years after his death. Daumer's interest was not just poetic. 

"From an orthodox Protestant he gradually became a bitter enemy of Christianity, which he attacked in a number of writings and for which he strove to substitute a new religion "of love and peace", formulated in his work Religion des neuen Weltalters (Hamburg, 1850)." [Wikipedia]

Daumer apparently saw in Hafez the "love and peace" that he was looking for. 

Here is a wonderful version of the song, performed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone, and Margrit Weber, piano:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwoS14HerN4

1 comment:

  1. Aloha,
    Wonderful blog! I wonder why people thought that this poem was the work of Hafez, since the last line mentions Schemseddin (شمس الدین). Shams al-Din is no where mentioned in Hafez' work but is commonly found in the poems by Rumi. Aloha, James Rumford

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