Sunday, November 22, 2009

Gloria sei, drei! Glory be, three!

The text of verse three of "Wachet Auf" below is not the same as the one in Bach's cantata setting.

Here is the one that is sung below. You will notice the "close approximation" in translating the second-last line :) Perhaps this consumation of bride and groom has no particular translation! Feel free to drop your own translation in the comment section.  

Also, I mistranslated Line 2 before, and it is corrected here.

Gloria sei dir gesungen
Glory to thee be sung

Mit Menschen- und englischen Zungen,

With human and angelic tongues,

Mit Harfen und mit Zimbeln schon.
With harp and with beautiful cymbals.

Von zwölf Perlen sind die Pforten,
Of twelve pearls are the portals,

An deiner Stadt sind wir Konsorten
In Thy city we are in concert with

Der Engel hoch um deinen Thron.
The angel high upon Thy throne.

Kein Aug hat je gespürt,
No eye has yet seen,

Kein Ohr hat je gehört
No ear has yet heard

Solche Freude!
Such joy!

Des sind wir froh,
Therefore we are extatic,

io, io!
yaHOOOOoo!

Ewig in dulci jubilo.
Forever in sweet jubilation.





2 comments:

  1. We sang Wachet Auf as the Hymn of the Day this morning. I begin the hymn intro bouncing back and forth between the tenor and alto ranges on the C chord, slowly opening the swell as I progresed. (Similar effect as the Distler arraingment.) Someone said..."That was a long hymn intro." I replied,"It's a long hymn!"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey, Brian, I couldn't find the Distler arrangement on youtube. If you run into it, drop the link here and I will post it.

    ReplyDelete

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