To listen press 
on the audio player below
(you can also download the file –
click on the three dots on the right):
Schlechtes Wetter
Heinrich Heine
Das ist ein schlechtes Wetter,
Es regnet und stürmt und schneit;
Ich sitze am Fenster und
schaue
Hinaus in die Dunkelheit.
Da schimmert ein einsames Lichtchen,
Das wandelt langsam fort;
Ein Mütterchen mit dem Laternchen
Wankt über die Straße dort.
Ich glaube, Mehl und Eier
Und Butter kaufte sie ein;
Sie will einen Kuchen backen
Fürs große Töchterlein.
Die liegt zu Hause im Lehnstuhl,
Und blinzelt schläfrig ins Licht;
Die goldenen Locken
wallen
Über das süße Gesicht.
Dreadful Weather
English Translation © Richard Stokes
This is dreadful weather,
It’s raining and blowing and snowing;
I sit at my window and
stare
Out into the darkness.
One solitary light flickers
out there,
Moving slowly along;
A little old woman with a lantern
Totters across the street.
I fancy it’s flour and eggs
And butter she’s been buying;
She’s going to bake a cake
For her big little daughter.
She lolls at home in the armchair,
Blinking sleepily into the light;
Her golden curls tumble
down
Over her sweet face.
Gentle but sad rain with Brahms:
Regenlied text & translation
Rained on parks and the memory of a children’s game with Debussy:
Night, wind, rain and snow and a (surprisingly) happy ending with Richard Strauss:
Schlechtes Wetter: text & translation (again!)
Vivaldi‘s Italian Summer storm (with hailstones):
00:54 Allegro non molto
06:37 Adagio e piano – Presto e forte
08:43 Presto
Beethoven‘s Viennese storm:
(00:18) I. Allegro ma non troppo: Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande /
Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside
(12:43) II. Andante molto mosso: Szene am Bach /
Scene by the brook
(24:42) III. Allegro: Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute /
Merry gathering of the countryfolk
(30:15) IV. Allegro: Gewitter, Sturm /
Thunderstorm
(34:16) V. Allegretto: Hirtengesang. Frohe und dankbare Gefühle nach dem Sturm /
Shepherd’s song. Glad and grateful feelings after the storm
Rossini‘s Swiss storm:
Descending an Alp and the orchestral storm to end all orchestral storms with Richard Strauss:
You can listed to and watch a performance of the complete work here.
Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as “fair use”, for the purpose of study, and critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of the copyright owner(s).
The Art of Listening 