Von Ewiger Liebe was composed between 1857-1866, by Johannes Brahms and it is the first song of the song cycle Vier Gesänge, Op. 43. It was first published in 1868. Dunsby in his book Making Words Sing, mentions that when composing this song, Brahms was actually expressing his belief in eternal love (Making Words Speak, p.36).
The poem Brahms used to compose this song was written by Heinrich Hoffman (Making Words Speak, p.37). The poem creates a dramatic atmosphere where it positions the reader and in the case of this song, the listener, into a dark silent forest where a man walks his beloved home. He expresses his love to the woman and she follows with her words of love, thus creating the feeling of eternal love (Making Words Speak, p.38).
Musically, the lieder is more of a duet between the rich and very difficult accompaniment with the rich and beautiful sound of the singer. Both melody and rhythm follows the poem's scenery changes which enriches the storytelling element of the poem. Kurt Adler in his song The Art of Accompaniment, characterizes this lieder as "passionate" and "dark" when sung in its original key (The Art of Accompaniment p.230) , while the Lieder's words translate as per below (Making Words Speak, p.37):
Dunkel, wie dunkel, in walt und in feld
Dark, the field and forests are dark
Abend schon ist es non schweiget die welt
It is already dark and the earth if silent
Nirgend noch licht und nirgend noch Rauch
There is no light nor smoke
Ja, und die lerche sie schweiget nun auch
Yes, and even the hill is silent now
Kommt aus dem dorfe der bursche het aus
The man arrives from the village
Gibt das Geleit der Geliebten nach haus
Talking with his sweetheart, while walking her home
Furt sie am Weidengebüsche vorbei
They pass by the bushes
Redet so Viel und so mancherlei
Talking of things that hurt
Leidest du smach und betrübest du dich
If you feel pain and sadness
Leidest du smach von andern um mich
If you are ashamed of how others see me
Werde die liebe getrennt so geschwind
we will separate so quickly
Schnell wie wir früher vereiniget sind
as quickly as when we got together
Scheide mit Regen und scheide mit Wind
Let us separate in wind and in rain
Spricht das Mägdelein, Mägdelein spricht
The girl speaks and tells him
Unsere liebe sie trennet sich nicht!
What we have cannot break
Eisen und stahl, man schmiedet si um
Our love is as strong as iron and steel
Unsere liebe ist faster noch mehr
And even stronger
Eisen und stahl, man schmiedet si um
Iron and steel can not be mended
Unsere liebe, wer wandelt sie um?
Who can change our love?
Eisen und stahl, sie können zergehn
While iron and steel are able to be melted down
Unsere liebe, musβ ewig bestehn!
Our love can live forever!
References:
Dunby, Jonathan, (2004), Making Words Speak, (Cambridge, Cambridge University), pp.36-38
Alder, Kurt, (2012), The Art of Accompanying, ( United States, Springer), p.230
2026
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