Wedding piece
Mahler, Gustav
From the high cliffs a castle gleams,
The cornets and trumpets resound,
There sat the brave company of knights,
And the ladies wearing their golden chains.
What is that joyful, cheerful noise?
What glows and shines in the King's hall?
O joy, hurrah! Joy!
And do you not know, whence this joy?
Hah! Then I shall tell you.
The queen today shall wed
The young knight!
Behold, the proud queen!
Today it shall break, her haughty will!
O joy, hurrah! Joy!
Why is the king so pale and quiet?
Does he not hear the joyful sounds?
Does he not see the wealthy and powerful guests,
Does he not see the graceful and beautiful queen?
Why is the king so pale and quiet?
What has gotten into his head?
A minstrel stands waiting at the door!
What can this minstrel want?
O sorrow, sorrow! O woe!
"Oh minstrel, my dear minstrel
This must I now lament to you:
For a beautifully-colored little flower
Has my brother struck me dead!
In the wood were my young bones bleached,
While my brother courted a lovely wife!"
O sorrow, sorrow! O woe!
Then leapt the king from his throne,
And peers at his wedding guests.
And seized the flute with an outraged sneer,
And set it against his own mouth!
O horrific is the sound it makes!
Do you hear the tidings with mortal fright?
"Oh brother, my dear brother,
You have slain me!
Now you play on my death-bleached bone,
And I must ever lament!
Why have you given over
My young life to death?"
O sorrow, woe! O sorrow!
On the ground the queen had collapsed;
The drums and trumpets fell silent.
With horror the knight and his wife fled,
The ancient walls are falling!
The lights are extinguished in the King's hall?
What has become of their wedding feast?
Ah, sorrow!