Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh

This famous Goethe poem was setted to music in several occasions: Ives, Loewe, Medtner or Schubert -to name a few- all wrote music for the text.

Goethe wrote this poem on the night before his 82nd. birthday, after a walk through the mountains in Ilmenau, where from the top of the cliffs was overwhelmed by the beauty and serenity of the landscape, and the certainty of his own death:

Über allen Gipfeln
Ist Ruh'
In allen Wipfeln
Spürest Du
Kaum einen Hauch;
Die Vögelein schweigen im Walde
Warte nur, balde
Ruhest Du auch.

Johann Christian Mahr remembers this scene:

"Goethe überlas diese wenigen Verse, und Tränen flossen über seine Wangen. Ganz langsam zog er sein schneeweißes Taschentuch aus seinem dunkelbraunen Tuchrock , trocknete sich die Tränen und sprach in einem sanften, wehmütigen Ton: 'Ja, warte nur, bald ruhest du auch!' , schwieg eine halbe Minute, sah nochmals durch das Fenster in den düstern Fichtenwald und wendete sich darauf zu mir, mit den Worten: Nun wollen wir wieder gehen!".

I like the versions by Liszt and Schumann.

Schumann´s "Nachtlied" sung by Bernarda Fink with Roger Vignoles.

Liszt´s "Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh" sung by Brigite Fassbaender with Irwin Gage.

While Schumann is more concerned about nature and loneliness, describing the quiet scenery of the forest with the silent birds, Liszt centers on the subject matter of the poem, the finiteness of life, creating a much more existentialist Lied.

Schumann 0 - 1 Liszt

It is difficult to compare both interpretations, given the different nature of the songs, but Biggy reveals herself once more as the supreme lied-singer she was. Liszt reduces the melodic line to a minimum, so that the singer is compelled to carry out the Lied almost alone with a few notes and the poetic intensity of the text itself.

Bernarda 0 - 1 Biggy