TRANSLATION: Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, "Journey Home (Barcarola)"

Lost in the fire of last year's Pierrot centennial was translation. After all, it was Otto Erich Hartleben's German--translated from the original French of Albert Giraud--that Arnold Schoenberg had set.

And with Stanley Appelbaum's Anglicised Hartleben turning 20 next year (not to mention having its own Twitter account @PierrotTweets), Classicalite figured a new English language translation was passed due.

To wit, for the next 21 weekdays, we'll be offering a new take on each of Giraud/Hartleben/Appelbaum's 3x7 poems...alongside some of our favorite performances.

JOURNEY HOME

A moonbeam is the rudder,
The water lily serves as boat,
So Pierrot sails southward
With a fair wind for his passage.

The stream hums deep scales beneath
And rocks the fragile dory.
A moonbeam is the rudder,
The water lily serves as boat.

To Bergamo, his homeland,
At last, Pierrot returns.
In the east, soft glimmers rise
To the dawn's green horizon--
A moonbeam is the rudder.

Up next: "O Alter Duft"

Tags

Translation, Schoenberg, Pierrot Lunaire, Part III, Albert Giraud, Otto Erich Hartleben, Stanley Appelbaum