CEC Music Home

Contact CEC Music

About CEC Music

1. An Die Nachtigall

Don't sing your love songs so loudly from the apple blossoms!
You call me, and awaken love within me.
Already my soul is stirred by your cry.

Sleep flees again -
My pale haggard eyes stare tearfully at the sky.

Fly away nightingale, off into the grove's green darkness .
Go shower kisses on your faithful nestmate.
Fly away, fly away!

2. Ach, wende diesen Blick

Ah, turn your face away from me!
Whenever my tortured soul rests,
One glance from you reawakens all the woe
that stings my heart.

On this spring morning, it seems
I have again found the sorrow of an old love.
It's as if someone touched me on the shoulder,
or like a knock at the door, yet no one is there.
I catch the scent of jasmine, yet I have no bouquet.
Someone calls to me from the distance,
an old dream seizes me and leads me on.

4. Dein Blaues Auge

Your blue eyes are so still that I can see into their depths
You ask what do I hope to see? I see my own well being.
I was burned by another pair, and the scar still hurts,
Yet your eyes are clear and cool like the sea.

5. Bottschaft

Blow, Breeze, gently & lovingly around my beloved's face;
tenderly ruffle her hair, do not run away!

If she asks after poor wretched me, say:
"His woe was unending, his condition highly doubtful;
But now he has hope.
For you, lovely lady, are thinking of him!"

6. Der Gang zum Liebchen

The moon shines down, I should go back to my sweetheart.
How does she fare?

Alas, she's despondent
And laments that I will never again see her as long as she lives.

The moon sets, I rush off quickly -
Hurrying so that no one shall steal my sweetheart away.

7. Der Jäger

My love is a hunter, he always hits his mark.
He knows all the paths and trails,
but the only way to me is through the church door!

8. Des Liebsten Schwur

If my father wasn't such a grouch,
I would tell him whom I met in the garden,
I met my sweetheart in the garden!

If my father wasn't so surly,
I would tell him what my sweetheart gave me,
He gave me a kiss, and then another!

9. Feldeinsamkeit

I lie still in the tall grass and gaze above me, surrounded by the wondrous blue heavens.
The clouds drift far and wide, and I feel as though I died long ago, and drift with them in endless bliss

10. In Waldeseinsamkeit

I sat with you in the lonely forest, my head in your lap, my trembling hands around your knees.
The sun set, the glowing light faded, and far far away a nightingale sang.

11. Mädchenlied

In the spinning rooms at night, the girls sing and laugh with the village boys.
Every girl is spinning something for her dowry, and soon the wedding bells will ring.
No one is kind to me. No one asks after me.
Who can I tell my sorrows to?
The tears flow down my face. Why should I spin? I don't know

12. Nachklang

Raindrops fall from the trees, tears from my eyes.
When the sun shines, the grass will be twice as green,
and on my cheeks twice as many hot tears will glow.

13. O Wüst' ich doch den Weg zurück

O, if I only knew the way back to childhood!
I long to rest, gently surrounded by love.
In vain I look for happiness, surrounded by a deserted shore.

14. Wie Melodien zieht es mir

It pulls at me like a melody, blooms like spring flowers, and wafts away like a fragrance.
But when put into words it turns gray and pale, and disappears like a breath.
Yet, my rhymes still hide a fragrance, which my moist eyes call forth from the dormant bud.

15. Vergebliches Ständchen

He: Good evening sweet girl!
My love brings me here, open the door for me!

She: My mother warned me about men like you!
My door is locked, you can't come in.

He: It's so cold and windy that my heart will freeze & my love will die! Open the door!

She: If a little cold kills your love, good riddance! Go home to bed. Good night!

16. Verzagen

I sit by the shore and look with dully at the drifting waves.
They foam and vanish, the clouds and wind come, and then blow away.
Be still my heart, let the wind and waves comfort you.
Why do you weep?

17. Von ewiger Liebe

On a dark silent night, a young lad leads his beloved home, talking of many things.
"If I ever make you ashamed, or cause you grief or disgrace, our love will be over.
As quickly as we came together, I will go."

Then the maiden replies:
"Our love will never end. It is stronger than iron or steel.
They can be melted and changed, but our love will last forever!"

18. Von waldbekränzter Höhe

From the forested heights
My love struck eyes look ardently
Back to the green meadow that surrounds you.

I gaze on a stream- and wish I could float back to you.
I look at the drifting clouds, and wish I could fly back to you.

I long to embrace you, you my glory and pain.
With my lips & eyes, With breast, heart & soul -
I am yours!

19. Schön war, das ich dir weihte

The jewelry I gave you was beautiful,
the lute I chose sounded sweet.
The heart that offered them both to you
deserved a better reward.

20. Wir Wandelten

We wandered together just the two of us. I was quiet, you also were still.
I would give much to know your thoughts at that moment.
Of my thoughts, I will only say this:
So lovely were they, ringing like sweet golden bells in my mind, that there is no echo of them in this world.