Tomorrow, In Dreams

Bard College-Conservatory of Music Graduate Vocal Arts Program

Degree Recital
May 8, 2021 at 3pm
László Z. Bitó '60 Conservatory Building

Jardena Gertler-Jaffe, soprano

Diana Borshcheva, piano

Ruhe, meine Seele!, 4 Lieder, op. 27, no. 1 (Karl Henckell, 1864-1929) Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

3 Lieder, op. 22 Erich Korngold (1897-1957)

Was du mir bist (Eleanore van der Straaten, 1845-?)
Mit dir zu schweigen (Karl Kobald, 1876-1975)
Welt ist stille eingeschlafen (Kobald)

Selection of mélodie Henri Duparc (1848-1933)

Soupir (René-François Sully Prudhomme, 1839-1907)
L’invitation au voyage (Charles Baudelaire, 1821-1867)
Phidylé (Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle, 1818-1894)
Extase (Jean Lahor [Henri Cazilis], 1840-1909)

– INTERMISSION –

A Small Handful Gilda Lyons (b. 1975)

Where It Was At Back Then (Anne Sexton, 1928-1974)
Music Swims Back to Me (Sexton)
Seven Times (Sexton)

Changing Light (Rabbi Jules Harlow, b. 1931) Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952)
Esther Goldy Roestan, violin

Five Songs from Anna Berkowitz arr. Dan Shore (b. 1975)
Feygele sheyninke
Kh’bin a geyer arum hoyz
O Maminke, Mamike
Bin ikh mir a meydele a sheyns
Kum aroys tsu mir, mayn libste

Morgen!, 4 Lieder, op. 27, no. 4 (John Henry MacKay, 1864-1933) Richard Strauss
 Tomorrow, In Dreams
Notes

This year has been extremely hard for all of us, and it will potentially take decades to
understand cultural fallout from this difficult time. While the message that a human’s life is only
as valuable as its contribution to the economy has been amplified in our culture, art has provided
an important reminder that our lives are and should be much more. We are singing, dancing,
crying, laughing, screaming people, and whether artists ourselves, fans, or both, our lives are
enriched through artistic expression. I am hopeful that the clearing of the pandemic storm will not
only bring us more joy but will also force us to reflect on how our larger culture has prolonged and
exaggerated the suffering of this past year. As we dream of what tomorrow can be, let us turn to
the visionaries who not only know what we are going through, but give us the words, music, and
other tools of expression to help us make it through to that better time.

Richard Strauss, 4 Lieder, op. 27, no. 1 and 4

Richard Strauss (1864-1949) did not conceive of his songs as sets or cycles, but rather
arranged pieces into opus number based on convenience at the time of publication, and often
performed recitals where he himself mixed songs from different opus numbers. However, the two
songs from op. 27 that I am presenting to bookend my recital, no. 1 (“Ruhe, meine Seele”) and 4
(“Morgen”), are connected in many ways. The poems share similar imagery from nature, including
mentions of a shore where turbulent waves turn into a calm tide. They also depict the sun
breaking through darkness, symbolically representing hope emerging from depression. The desire
to quell the storm in the first piece is resolved by the second, as we find ourselves in warm
sunlight. When programming my recital, I found this poetry irresistible. We are attempting to
weather a storm at the moment, reeling from the damage of the COVID-19 pandemic, decades of
unregulated capitalism, climate change, and a political environment seemingly hellbent on
destruction. To arrive at the promise of sunshine after the storm requires us to dream together:
what do we want tomorrow to look like?

Strauss’ op. 27 was written for his wife, soprano Pauline Maria de Ahna on the occasion of their
wedding in September 1894. Strauss’ brilliant text painting in “Ruhe meine Seele” illustrates the
rolling thunder with massive chords, the swelling surf in arpeggios, and rays of sunshine
beaming through leaf cover with ecstatic high notes in the vocal line. “Morgen” is notable
particularly for its extraordinarily long piano introduction (in fact, one might say that introduction
is the wrong word, given both the length and beauty of this section) that leads the singer to join in
on “und,” suggesting the continuation of a poem already in progress. The poetry provides a simple
but deeply felt wish for a future together; Strauss leads us to believe this couple will keep repeating
and renewing their wishes for a better tomorrow that is always still a day away.

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Erich Korngold, 3 Lieder, op. 22

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) was an Austrian-Jewish composer who eventually

fled to California due to the rise of the Nazi party in Europe, and became noted for his work
scoring films in the United States. Because of this association, Korngold’s music is often described
as “filmic” or “movie-like,” though given the innumerable genres of film, it is hard to know exactly
what this means. Unfortunately, I suspect that has caused some to discount his writing as overly
sentimental, commercial, or unserious. However, his actual compositional output was
extraordinarily varied, and his writing was innovative, emotive, with a highly developed melodic
and harmonic language. Op. 22 was composed shortly after his (overly) ambitious fourth opera,
Das Wunder der Heliane, flopped. His settings of these three love poems shows a deliberate choice
to simplify his vocal writing, perhaps in response to critiques of his opera.

The first poem of this set, “Was du mir bist?” is by Eleanore van der Straaten (1845-?), an
unknown poet whose work Korngold would set again in his op. 27. This sweet song can be
effectively distilled into its last couplet: “What you are to me: My belief in happiness.” The other
two poems are by Karl Kobald (1876-1957), an Austrian poet, music critic and musicologist.
Kobald’s two contributions to this set have many similarities: dreamy, star-studded nighttime
settings where one can be truly alone with one’s love. The misty stillness of “Mit dir zu
schweigen” gives way to the ecstatic dreamscape of “Welt ist stille eingeschlafen.”

Henri Duparc, selection of mélodie

Henri Duparc (1848-1933) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his mélodie
set to assorted poets. Duparc wrote much more music than has ultimately survived due to his
tendency to destroy his own compositions; he left fewer than forty. This set of mélodie by Duparc
showcases his voluptuous compositional style.

Duparc studied with César Franck, who also taught Ernest Chausson. Graham Johnson
describes “Soupir,” one of Duparc’s earliest pieces, as being most similar to Chausson’s
compositional style (likely via Franck’s teaching), with its subtly changing harmonies of the
arpeggiated left hand, and bittersweet, sustained melody in the right. Sully Prudhomme’s repeated
words and economy of rhyme give the impression of a person who is fixated, and the lack of a real
climax in both the text and music betrays a lack of catharsis. Duparc’s setting, which was dedicated
to his mother, paints a tragic image of grief. In “Phidylé,” Duparc’s setting of this poem by
Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle, starts as a tranquil ode and gives way to an unrestrained
climax as the dozing nymph Phidylé awakens to give a passionate kiss to our poet. The poetry of
“L’invitation au voyage” comes from Charles Baudelaire’s Les fleur du mal. The lush harmonies
and sustained vocal lines are an invitation to a magical escape where there is nothing but harmony
and beauty. While the melody remains essentially the same for the two verses that the composer
set, this journey becomes somehow bathed in golden light when the piece modulates to C major.
Lastly, the poetry of “Extase” is by Parnassian poet Jean Lahor (a pseudonym of Henri Cazalis) and
is a study in brevity. As in “Soupir”, the poet has been economical in terms of rhyme, using only
two: one masculine and one feminine. The poem paints a sensual scene; the slight variation

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between the first and final stanzas of the poem revealing that the pale lily in the first stanza is the
beloved’s breast.

Gilda Lyons, A Small Handful

Gilda Lyons (b. 1975) wrote this set of unaccompanied songs to text by Anne Sexton
(1928-1974). Lyons is both a composer and soprano and gave the premiere of these pieces herself
in NYC in 2003. Lyons lives nearby in Rhinebeck, and is a graduate of Bard College, and later
received her Ph.D. in Music Composition from SUNY Stony Brook. The set, which is composed
of poetry from various collections of Sexton’s, has many of the hallmark themes of the poet’s
confessional style, exploring subjects of motherhood, marriage, mental illness, and
institutionalization. For Sexton, who struggled with mental illness for much of her adult life,
poetry was a therapeutic practice. Lyons notes that Maxime Kumin, a poet and close friend of
Sexton’s, once wrote that though Sexton eventually took her own life, “poetry kept Anne alive for
the eighteen years of her creative endeavors. When everything else soured… the making of poems
remained her one constant.”

Kaija Saariaho, Changing Light

Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952) wrote Changing Light for violinist Edna
Michell’s Compassion Project, a set of commissions based on the theme of universal
compassion. The piece premiered in Helsinki on September 11, 2002. With text by Rabbi Jules
Harlow, Saariaho wrote this work as a dialogue between soprano and violin, drawing attention to
similarities of timbre and tessitura between the two instruments. Saariaho chose this
instrumentation specifically because “the intimate nature and fragile sound world of the duo
mirror [sic] the fragility of our uncertain existence.” The harmonics and trills in the violin mimic
synthesizers and other electronics, sounds that Saariaho has explored in many other compositions
including Lonh, a piece for soprano and electronics, which was eventually developed into her
opera, L’amour de loin.

Dan Shore, Five Songs from Anna Berkowitz

Dan Shore (b. 1975) was commissioned to write this work for a collaboration between
YIVO Institute of Jewish Research and the Bard College Conservatory Graduate Vocal Arts
Program. Diana Borshcheva and I recorded the world premiere of these pieces in April 2021 and
we wished to share them again with another audience. These five pieces are arrangements of
Yiddish folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive, a veritable treasure trove of songs collected by
ethnomusicologist Ruth Rubin (1906-2000). This archive was an attempt by Rubin to preserve
parts of Yiddish culture that were threatened by anti-Jewish violence in Europe, assimilation, and
the rising prominence of Modern Hebrew in the 20th Century. In the last few decades, interest in
Yiddish has grown exponentially, and YIVO has played a significant part in this renewal. First
learning of the archive at a YIVO Yiddish summer course a number of years ago, Dan Shore
picked these five songs out of the thirty sung to Rubin by Anna Berkowitz in the 1950s and 60s
from her home in Montreal. Berkowitz was born in Shat, Lithuania in 1920, and came to Canada

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in 1935. According to the archive, she was taught the majority of these Yiddish folk songs by her
older sister when they were both children.

The texts of these songs is typical as folk songs go: tales of lost love, vagrants, children, and
nature. Using plenty of pathetic fallacy, the poetry often relies on imagery of animals and nature to
express human feelings that might be hard to grasp in other ways. However, we get a occasional
peek into the specificity of this culture, such as the interaction between the “geyer” (vagrant) of
“Kh’bin a geyer arum hoyz” and the passing Polish peasant, and the allusions to Judaica in “Kum
aroys tsu mir.” Shore’s arrangements honour and enhance these folk songs; he keeps the integrity
of the original melody and adds emotional commentary and text-painting in the piano
accompaniment.

Jardena Gertler-Jaffe
2021

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 Tomorrow, In Dreams
Performer Bios

Hailed for her “delicate yet strong vocalism” (Millbrook Independent), Jardena Gertler-Jaffe is
a soprano from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Jardena is passionate about finding ways that
the vocal arts can challenge, transform, and innovate in the twenty-first century. Her personal
projects merge classical music with issues of social justice and representation within the arts.

Jardena has appeared as a soloist with Cincinnati Fusion Ensemble, Concerts in the Village (NY),
Victoria Baroque, and the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. In October 2020, Jardena was named
a fellow in the RBC Future Launch Association for Opera in Canada Emerging Artist Fellowship.
Jardena earned her [Link]. and M.A. from the University of Toronto, and is an alumna of the
Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, the Pacific Opera Victoria Artist Development Program,
SongFest, and Opera NUOVA.

During the 2020/2021 season, Jardena has embarked on a number of projects that have
showcased her talent for thinking creatively and inventively. Together with Maximillian Jansen,
Louis Tiemann, and Diana Borshcheva, Jardena produced Wherever the Road May Lead, an
experimental “walking recital” highlighting the natural beauty of the Hudson Valley, which was
released online in November 2020. Her ongoing project Our Singing Bodies, which treats the
singer’s body as the site for the negotiation of power and identity, was launched in January 2021.
Later this season, Jardena is also excited to perform excerpts from György Kurtág’s enigmatic work
Kafka Fragments and sing in the chorus of Le roi Arthus at Bard SummerScape.

Praised for her beautiful deep sound, virtuosic skills, and immense artistry, Russian-born
pianist Diana Borshcheva’s passions lie in both solo and collaborative repertoire. As a solo pianist
Ms. Borshcheva won several competitions in Russia and Europe, including the International Piano
Competition in Italy (Grand Prix) and the International Piano Competition in Lithuania (First
Award).

In addition to her career as a soloist, Ms. Borshcheva has been working with singers for more than
10 years. A vocal coach herself, Ms. Borshcheva enjoys working through vocal repertoire, and
improving her skills and knowledge of this art form. In 2018, Diana, together with her duet
partner soprano Caroline Bergan, performed during the renowned Art Song Festival in Cleveland.
In the summer of 2019, Ms. Borshcheva worked as a pianist and coach in Salzburg, Austria. In
November of 2020, in collaboration with soprano Jardena Gertler-Jaffe, tenor Maximillian Jansen,
and baritone Louis Tiemann, Ms. Borshcheva created Wherever the Road May Lead, an innovative
audio experience meant to be listened to while taking a walk.

A graduate of the Central Music School (Moscow, Russia), Ms. Borshcheva received her Bachelor’s
Degree in Solo Performance from the Longy School of Music of Bard College in 2016, and Master
of Music Degree in both Solo and Collaborative Piano from the Cleveland Institute of Music in
2019. Before her position as a piano fellow at Bard College Conservatory, Diana studied with
Warren Jones at the Manhattan School of Music.

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 Violinist Esther Roestan made her solo debut at the age of 9 with the Surabaya Symphony
Orchestra, performing the Mozart Concerto No.3 in G Major. She completed her Bachelors of
Music at Indiana University on a full scholarship with Grigory Kalinovsky, and Sigurbjorn
Bernhardsson. During the summer, Esther attended The Zukerman Program, Heifetz Music
Institute, and Music Academy of the West. She was the youngest assistant concertmaster in the
Indonesian National Orchestra, and was Concertmaster in Jacobs School Concert Orchestra. In
Spring 2017 her quartet won the Jacobs School Kuttner Quartet Competition and she is currently
a concertmaster at The Orchestra Now at Bard College.

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 Tomorrow, In Dreams
Text and Translations

Ruhe, meine Seele – Karl Henckell (1864-1929)

Nicht ein Lüftchen regt sich leise, Not a breeze stirs softly,
Sanft entschlummert ruht der Hain; Softy rests the grove in slumber;
Durch der Blätter dunkle Hülle Through the dark cover of the leaves
Stiehlt sich lichter Sonnenschein. The light of sunshine steals

Ruhe, ruhe, meine Seele, Rest, rest, my soul,

Deine Stürme gingen wild, Your storms have gone wild,
Hast getobt und hast gezittert, Have raged and have trembled,
Wie die Brandung, wenn sie schwillt! Like the surf, when it swells!

Diese Zeiten sind gewaltig, These times are powerful,

Bringen Herz und Hirn in Not— Bring heart and head in misery--
Ruhe, ruhe, meine Seele, Rest, rest, my soul,
Und vergiß, was dich bedroht And forget what threatens you!

Was du mir bist? – Eleanore van der Straaten (1845-?)

Was du mir bist? What are you to me?
Der Ausblick in ein schönes Land, The view of a beautiful country,
Wo fruchtbelad’ne Bäume ragen, Where fruit-laden trees tower,
Blumen blühn’ am Quellenrand. Flowers bloom at the water’s edge.

Was du mir bist? Der Sterne Funkeln, What are you to me? The star’s sparkle,
das Gewölk durchbricht, That breaks through the clouds,
Der ferne Lichtstrahl, The far-off ray of light,
der im Dunkeln spricht: That in the dark speaks:
O Wand’rer, verzage nicht! Oh wanderer, do not despair!

Und war mein Leben auch Entsagen, And were my life one of renunciation,
glänzte mir kein froh Geschick, And no good fortune came my way,
was du mir bist? Kannst du noch fragen? What are you to me? Can you still ask?
Was du mir bist: mein Glaube an das Glück. What you are to me: my belief in joy.

Mit dir zu schweigen – Karl Kobald (1876-1957)

Mit Dir zu schweigen still im Dunkel, To remain silent with you in darkness,
Die Seele an der Träume Schoss gelehnt, Our souls reclining in the lap of dreams,
Ist Lauschen ew’gen Melodeien, Is to listen to endless melodies,
Ist Liebe ohne End’... Is love without any end...

Mit Dir zu schweigen in der Dämmerzeit, To remain silent with you in the twilight,
Ist Schweben nach der Welten großer Fülle, Is to float towards the great abundance of the world,
Ist Wachsen weit in die Unendlichkeit, Is to grow far into infinity
Entrückt in ew’ge Stille… Enraptured in eternal silence...

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Welt ist stille eingeschlafen – Kobald
Welt ist stille eingeschlafen, The world has quietly gone to sleep,
Ruht im Mondenschein. Resting in the moonlight.
Öffnen sich im Himmelshafen In heaven’s haven, open your
Augen, golden, rein. Golden, pure eyes.

Gottes Geige sinkt jetzt leise-- God’s violin sweetly sings-

Liebste, denk’ an Dich. Love, I think of you.
Wie im Traumboot geht die Reise, The journey goes on in a dreamboat,
Such’ in Sternen Dich. I look for you in the stars.

Strahlen seliger Lieb’ erhellen Rays of joyful love illuminate

Meines Herzens Raum. My whole heart.
Zwiesprach’ halten unsere Seelen, Our souls hold a communion,
Küssen sich im Traum. Kissing in the dream.

Soupir – Sully Prudhomme (1839-1907)

Ne jamais la voir ni l’entendre, Never to see or to hear her,
Ne jamais tout haut la nommer, Never to say her name out loud,
Mais, fidèle toujours l’attendre, But, to wait faithfully for her,
Toujours l’aimer! Love her always!

Ouvrir les bras, et, las d’attendre, Open your arms, and, weary from waiting,
Sur le néant les refermer! Close them again on nothing!
Mais encor, toujours les lui tendre But still, always to stretch them towards her
Toujours l’aimer. Love her always.

Ah, ne pouvoir que les lui tendre Ah, to only be able to stretch them towards her,
Et dans les pleurs se consumer, And be consumed in tears,
Mais ces pleurs toujours les répandre, But always to shed those tears,
Toujours l’aimer... Love her always…

Ne jamais la voir ni l’entendre Never to see or to hear her,

Ne jamais tout haut la nommer Never to say her name out loud,
Mais d’un amour toujours plus tendre But, of a love that grows only more tender
Toujours l’aimer! Toujours! Love her always!

L’invitation au voyage – Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867)

Mon enfant, ma sœur, My child, my sister
Songe à la douceur Think of the sweetness
D’aller là-bas vivre ensemble! Of going there to live together!
Aimer à loisir, To love at leisure,
Aimer et mourir To love and to die
Au pays qui te ressemble! In a land that resembles you!
Les soleils mouillés The humid suns
De ces ciels brouillés Of these tempestuous skies
Pour mon esprit ont les charmes For my spirit has the charms

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 Si mystérieux So mysterious
De tes traîtres yeux, Of your treacherous eyes
Brillant à travers leurs larmes. Shining through their tears

Là, tout n’est qu’ordre et beauté, There, all is harmony and beauty
Luxe, calme et volupté! Luxury, calm, and sensuousness!

Vois sur ces canaux See in these canals

Dormir ces vaisseaux The slumbering ships
Dont l’humeur est vagabonde; Whose nature is nomadic;
C’est pour assouvir There are here to satisfy
Ton moindre désir Your basest desires
Qu’ils viennent du bout du monde. That they have come from the end of the earth.
Les soleils couchants The setting suns
Revêtent les champs, Dress the fields
Les canaux, la ville entière, The canals, the entire town
D’hyacinthe et d’or; In Hyacinthe and gold;
Le monde s’endort The world falls asleep
Dans une chaude lumière. In a warm light.

Là, tout n’est qu’ordre et beauté, There, all is harmony and beauty
Luxe, calme et volupté! Luxury, calm, and sensuousness!

Phidylé – Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818-1894)

L'herbe est molle au sommeil sous les frais The grass is soft for sleeping beneath fresh poplars,
peupliers, On the slopes of mossy springs,
Aux pentes des sources moussues, That, in blooming meadows germinating from a
Qui, dans les prés en fleur germant par mille thousand sources,
issues, Loses itself under the dark thicket.
Se perdent sous les noirs halliers.

Repose, ô Phidylé! Midi sur les feuillages Sleep, oh Phidylé! Noon shines under the leaves
Rayonne, et t'invite au sommeil. And invites you to slumber.
Par le trèfle et le thym, seules, en plein soleil, By the clover and the thyme, alone, in full sun,
Chantent les abeilles volages. The flighty bees sing.

Un chaud parfum circule au détour des sentiers, A warm perfume encircles around the pathways,
La rouge fleur des blés s'incline, The red flower of wheat bends,
Et les oiseaux, rasant de l'aile la colline, And the birds, skim the hillside with their wings,
Cherchent l'ombre des églantiers. Seeking the shade of the eglantine.

Mais, quand l'Astre, incliné sur sa courbe éclatante, But, when the sun, bending on its brilliant curve,
Verra ses ardeurs s'apaiser, Sees it’s ardors pacified,
Que ton plus beau sourire et ton meilleur baiser That your most beautiful smile and finest kiss
Me récompensent de l'attente! Repay me for waiting for you!

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Extase – Jean Lahor (AKA Henri Cazalis, 1840-1909)
Sur un lys pâle mon coeur dort On a pale lily my heart sleeps
D’un sommeil doux comme la mort A slumber sweet like death
Mort exquise, mort parfumée Exquisite death, death perfumed
Du souffle de la bien-aimée By the breath of my beloved

Sur ton sein pâle mon coeur dort On your pale breast my heart sleeps
D’un sommeil doux comme la mort A slumber sweet like death

Where It Was At Back Then – Anne Sexton (1928-1974)

Husband,
last night I dreamt
they cut off your hands and feet.
Husband,
You whispered to me,
Now we are both incomplete.

Husband,
I held all four
In my arms like sons and daughters.
Husband,
I bent slowly down
And washed them in magical waters.

Husband,
I placed each one
Where it belonged on you.
“A miracle”
You said, and we laughed
The laugh of the well-to-do.

Music Swims Back to Me – Sexton

Wait Mister. Which way is home?
They turned the light out
and the dark is moving in the corner.
There are no signposts in this room,
four ladies, over eighty,
in diapers every one of them.
La la la, Oh music swims back to me
and I can feel the tune they played
the night they left me
in this private institution on a hill.

Imagine it. A radio playing

and everyone here was crazy.
I liked it and danced in a circle.
Music pours over the sense

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 and in a funny way
music sees more than I.
I mean it remembers better;
remembers the first night here.
It was the strangled cold of November;
even the stars were strapped in the sky
and that moon too bright
forking through the bars to stick me
with a singing in the head.
I have forgotten all the rest.

They lock me in this chair at eight a.m.

and there are no signs to tell the way,
just the radio beating to itself
and the song that remembers
more than I. Oh, la la la,
this music swims back to me.
The night I came I danced a circle
and was not afraid.
Mister?

Seven Times (from The Death Baby) – Sexton

I died seven times
In seven ways
Letting death give me a sign,
Letting death place his mark on my forehead,
Crossed over, crossed over.

And death took root in that sleep,

In that sleep I held an ice baby
And I rocked it
And was rocked by it.
Oh, Madonna, hold me.
I am a small handful.

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Changing Light – Rabbi Jules Harlow (b. 1931)
Light and darkness, night and day.
We marvel at the mystery of the stars.
Moon and sky, sand and sea.
We marvel at the mystery of the sun.
Twilight, high noon, dusk and dawn.
Though we are mortal, we are Creation’s crown.
Flesh and bone, steel and stone.
We dwell in fragile, temporary shelters.
Grant steadfast love, compassion, grace.
Sustain us, Lord; our origin is dust.
Splendor, mercy, majesty, love endure.
We are but little lower than the angels.
Resplendent skies, sunset, sunrise.
The grandeur of Creation lifts our lives.
Evening darkness, morning dawn.
Renew our lives as You renew all time.

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 ‫פֿייגעלעך שיינינקע‬ Feygele Sheninke
,‫ פֿייגעלעך קליינינקע‬,‫פֿייגעלעך שיינינקע‬ Pretty little bird, little sweet bird,
.‫זינגט ניט – מַײן הַארץ איז בַאטריבט‬ Sing not -- my heart is troubled.
,‫פּונקט ָאט ַאזוי פֿלעגט מיר זינגען מַײן קליינינקע‬ Just like the little one used to sing to me,
.‫די וועלכע איך הָאב געליבט‬ The one I had loved.

,‫ שטערנדלעך ליכטיקע‬,‫שטערנדלעך קליינינקע‬ Little sweet star, pretty little star,

.‫שַײנט ניט – מַײן הַארץ איז פַֿארצָאגט‬ Shine not -- my heart is despondent.
,‫פּונקט ָאט ַאזוי צוויי ליכטיקע אויגעלעך‬ Just like those two bright eyes,
.‫הָאט מַײן געליבטע פַֿארמָאגט‬ That my beloved possessed.

,‫ וועלעכלעך לוסטיקע‬,‫וועלעכלעך קליינינקע‬ Little sweet waves, pretty little waves,

.‫רוישט ניט – מַײן הַארץ איז פַֿארקלָאגט‬ Rush not -- my heart is complaining.
‫פּונקט ָאט ַאזוי פֿלעגט מיר שעפּטשען‬ Just like the little one used to whisper to me,
.‫ די וועלכע איך הָאב פַֿארמָאגט‬,‫מַײן מיידעלע‬ My maiden, the one who was mine.

‫כ'בין ַא גייער ַארום הויז‬ Kh’bin a geyer arum hoyz

,‫כ'בין ַא גייער ַארום הויז‬ I am a vagrant around the houses,
,‫הָאב איך מיר ַא שטעקן‬ I have a walking stick,
‫ לַא‬,‫ לַא‬,‫ לַא‬,‫ לַא‬,‫ לַא‬,‫ לַא‬,‫טרַא‬ Tra, la, la, la, la, la, la
!‫איך שפַּאן אין ַאלע עקן‬ I step in every corner

,‫גיי איך צו קרעטשמע צו‬ I go to a tavern,

.‫קלַאפּ איך ָאן אין טויער‬ I knock on the gate.
–?‫ווער בינסטו און ווָאס בינסטו‬ “Who are you and what are you?”
‫ – ַא גייער‬:‫ענטפֿער איך‬ I answer: A nomad

‫ליידיק גייער ַארום הויז׃‬ Idle vagrant around the houses:

!‫–חוצפּהניק פַֿארשַײטער‬ “Impudent, cheeky fellow!”
‫ענטפֿער איך קיין איינציק ווָארט‬ I don’t answer a single word
.‫און איך גיי מיר ווַײטער‬ And I go on further.

‫פָֿארט ַא פּויערל פַֿארבַײ׃‬ A peasant drives by:

?‫–צָא טי מַאש נַא שוועטש‬ “What do you have in the world?” (In Polish)
.‫פַֿארשטיי איך ניט קיין איינציק ווָארט‬ I understand not a single word
!‫–מעטשע פּעטשע לעטשע‬ Metshe, petshe letshe!

‫ מַאמינקע‬,‫ ָא מַאמינקע‬O Maminke, Maminke

‫ די קעפּעלע טוט מיר װײ‬,‫ מַאמינקע‬,‫ ָא מַאמינקע‬Oh mama, mama, my head hurts
‫ און אפֿשר צו צװיי‬,‫“ גײ מַײן קינד צו ַא דָאקטער‬Go, my child, to a doctor, or maybe to two!”

‫ ַא דָאקטער קען הײלן דעם קרַאנקן זַײן קרענק‬A doctor knows how to cure what ails a patient
‫ ָאבער ניט דָאס נָאך װעמען איך בענק‬But not how to cure my longing

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‫ פַּאפּיר איז דָאך װַײס און טינט איז דָאך שװַארץ‬Paper is still white and ink is still black
‫ כ'הָאב זיך אַײנגעליבט אין ַא מײדעלע‬I have fallen for a maiden
‫ עס רַײסט אין מיר מַײן הַארץ‬It hurts in my heart

‫ איך בין געגַאנגען ברָאנעװען פַֿארטרַײבן די צַײט‬I’ve been trying to pass the time
‫ ָאבער מַײן זיסע לעבן איז פֿון מיר גַאנץ װַײט‬But my sweet love is so far from me

‫ בין איך מיר ַא מײדעלע ַא שײנס‬Bin ikh mir a meydele a sheyns

‫בין איך מיר ַא מײדעלע ַא שײנס‬ I am a pretty little girl

‫בין איך מיר ַא מײדעלע ַא קלײנס‬ I am a tiny little girl
‫מיט שַװארץ געלָאקטע הערעלעך‬ With tempting black hair,
‫מיט ַװײסע צַא ַרטע בעקעלעך‬ With sweet white cheeks.

‫בין איך מיר ַא בלימעלע ַא קלײנס‬ I am a tiny little flower

‫בין איך מיר ַא בלימעלע ַא שײנס‬ I am a pretty little flower
‫מיט ַא גרינע פֿיסעלע‬ With a green foot
‫מיט ַא דופֿטיק שיסעלע‬ With a fragrant little bowl

‫קומט צו גײן דָאס מײדעלע דָאס שײנס‬ Here comes the tiny little girl
‫רַײסט ַארױס דָאס בלימעלע דָאס קלײנס‬ The beautiful flower tears herself out
‫ ָזאג פַֿאר ָװאס‬,‫מײדעלע‬ Little girl, tell me why
‫רַײסטו מירַארױס פֿון גרָאז‬ You tear yourself out of the grass
‫ ָזאג פַֿאר ָװאס‬,‫מײדעלע‬ Little girl, tell me why
‫רַײסטו מירַארױס פֿון גרָאז‬ You tear yourself out of the grass

‫ קום ַארױס צו מיר מַײן ליבסטע‬Kum aroys tsu mir mayn libste

‫קום ַארױס צו מיר מַײן ליבסטע‬ Come out to me my love

!‫ קום ַארױס‬,‫קום ַארױס‬ Come out, come out!
‫כ'ברענג פַֿאר דיר ַא גוטע בשׂורה‬ I bring for you good news
‫ בַײ מַײן הױז‬,‫בַײ מַײן הױז‬ At my house, at my house
‫ שײן די בלומען‬,‫ בל ִיען‬,‫שפּרָאצן‬ Sprouting, blooming, beautiful flowers
!‫ װי שײן! ַאך װי שײן‬,‫ַאך‬ Ah, how beautiful!
!‫ לָאמיר בײדע גײן‬,‫קום זשע‬ Come on, let us go together!

‫פֿון פֿרימָארגן בַײ דער טיר זשע‬ In the morning by the door
‫ הײבן ָאן‬,‫הײבן ָאן‬ Begin, begin
‫ שטילע װינטלעך‬,‫ קילע‬,‫פֿרישע‬ Fresh, cool, silent winds
‫ הײבן ָאן‬,‫הײבן ָאן‬ Begin, begin
‫שטיל צו קושן די מזוזה‬ Silently to kiss the mezuzah
!‫ פֿון מַײן הױז‬,‫פֿון מַײן הױז‬ Of my house, of my house!
!‫ קום ַארױס‬,‫ ליבסטע‬,‫קום זשע‬ Come on, my love, come out!

‫ גָאטס גענָאדע קומט צו פֿל ִיען‬God’s grace comes flying

!‫ אױף ַא שטרַאל‬,‫ אױף ַא שטרַאל‬On a ray of sun! On a ray!

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 ‫און עס זינגען מיט די טָאלן‬ And it sings with the valley
‫ יעדער קװַאל‬,‫יעדער קװַאל‬ Every brook, every brook
‫ַאז דער פֿרילינג איז געקומען‬ As Spring is coming
!‫ זָאגן זײ‬,‫זָאגן זײ‬ So they say, so they say!
!‫קַארשן בלימלעך זַײנען װַײס װי שנײ‬ Cherry blossoms are white as snow!

Morgen – John Henry MacKay, 1864-1933

Und Morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen And tomorrow will the sun again shine
Und auf dem Wege, den ich gehen werde, And on the paths, which I will go
Wird uns, die Glücklichen sie wieder einen Will we, the lucky ones, be one again
Inmitten dieser sonnenatmenden Erde… In the midst of this sun-breathing earth…

Und zu dem Strand, dem weiten, wogenblauen, And to the shore, the wide, blue waves
Werden wir still und langsam niedersteigen, Will we silently and slowly descend,
Stumm, werden wir uns in die Augen schauen, Speechless, we will gaze into one another’s eyes,
Und auf uns sinkt des Glückes stummes And upon us a happy silence will sink…
Schweigen…

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