Breit' über mein Haupt dein schwarzes Haar,
neig' zu mir dein Angesicht,
da strömt in die Seele so hell und klar
mir deiner Augen Licht.
Ich will nicht droben der Sonne Pracht,
noch der Sterne leuchtenden Kranz,
ich will nur deiner Locken Nacht
und deiner Blicke Glanz.
Spread over my head thy raven locks
And turn thy head to me
so that thy gaze, so bright and clear,
will pierce my soul's eye.
I yearn neither for the Mighty Sun,
nor the crown of glittering Stars;
I only long for the night of your locks,
amidst thy radiant gaze.
(text: Adolf Friedrich, from
Lotössblatter; translation: me)
***
The tempo marking is
Andante maestoso. Despite this, a lot of singers seem to sing the lied faster, more towards
Moderato. I am of the opinion that you cannot rush a plea to your lover lest she pick up her trestles and scurry away (though in retrospective, I am talking from a
male perspective).
The piano marking is telling:
molto legato. The line must be creamy, sweet and flawless: hence the breathing is to be controlled at all times. For example, it is always easier to let the line just
fall down in the words
schwarzes Haar, like a violin, and not let the chest come too much on
Haar and make it sound like you're landing on muck.
Temptation is strong to accentuate
strömt, but it is better to let the line just flow. Take a breath after
so hell before flying into
so klar. I like to add a crescendo-decrescendo (with lots of vibrato - wring it, baby!) at the syllable
au of
Augen Licht. And despite the arching phrase (typical of Strauss), it was actually quite easy on the lungs, PROVIDED you:
- take a breath after so hell before crescendoing into und klar
- don't spend too much time on klar, because the important part is deiner Augen Licht.
In fact I sometimes crescendo only on
und; the
klar I float: it gives an impression of light falling (the crescendo) and then shimmering (the float) on a glass of water (IMHO...).
Ich will nicht must sound a bit whiny. Make it sound that you already have a big toy to play with; why should you be given a new one? Usually I accent the syllable
son- of
Sonne (because it
is a BIG thing, you know, the Sun) and the decrescendo on
Pracht (with a little stress on
PR-acht, because the word means
strong). The next phrase should be delicate; you're talking about shimmering crown of stars, not the Halley comet. Although the crescendo is marked to start here, I usually shifted it into the next phrase:
ich will nur deiner... because it makes more sense.
Ich will nur deiner Locken Nacht is the entire point of this lied. This is the Master Phrase, and it demands every single thing one can possibly have, and just a little bit more. Use the comma sign and take a HUGE GULP of BREATH before starting this phrase. Keep everything on the breath, and remember the line SHOULD FLOW. I think that the
ff sign here is more of a demand of maximum
colour as opposed to maximum
volume i.e. it should be BIG AND BROAD, but IT SHOULDN'T BE TRUMPETED: think Leontyne Price as opposed to Birgit Nilsson. The descent from
Lo- to
Nacht in
Locken Nacht should be delicate. I recommend holding
Nacht on a beat (or at most for a dotted crotchet) and starting the
portamento up to
und on the
next beat itself as opposed to waiting for a whole minim.
und deiner blicke Glanz is a bit like a mini Master Phrase. I don't agree with the accent markings on
und deiner; it sounds weird and it tends to distort the phrase. I recommend a breath before BLICK- (Ideally, though, the entire phrase SHOULD BE IN ONE BREATH). Play with
blicke any way you want it: the way that phrase was written it is OBVIOUS that it was meant to be caressed like so much vermillion silk.
Glanz should sound something like a harp arpeggio:
GL-a-ANZ.
