Beim Schlafengehen is the third song in Strauss's song cycle, The Four Last Songs. Written just before his death, these songs are set to poems written by Herman Hesse, Joseph Karl Benedikt & Freiherr von Eichendorff. They are widely recognized among the most beautiful music ever written for the soprano voice. 

Vocals by Stacie Eirich, piano by Tom Jesty. Recorded in isolation in 2021, following an online masterclass lead by The Choir of the Earth & Ms. Lucy Cox. 

Thanks for listening! I’m a mom who sings & writes poetry and prose. 
Links: 
https://www.stacieeirich.com/
https://www.choiroftheearth.com/

*Text & Translation below. 

***

Beim Schlafengehen 

Nun der Tag mich [müd] gemacht,
Soll mein sehnliches Verlangen
Freundlich die gestirnte Nacht
Wie ein müdes Kind empfangen. 

Hände, laßt von allem Tun,
Stirn vergiß du alles Denken,
Alle meine Sinne nun
Wollen sich in Schlummer senken. 

Und die Seele unbewacht
Will in freien Flügen schweben,
Um im Zauberkreis der Nacht
Tief und tausendfach zu leben.

Authorship by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Beim Schlafengehen", written 1911.

While going to sleep

Now that the day has made me so tired,
my dearest longings shall
be accepted kindly by the starry night
like a weary child.

Hands, cease your activity,
head, forget all of your thoughts;
all my senses now
will sink into slumber.

And my soul, unobserved,
will float about on untrammeled wings
in the enchanted circle of the night,
living a thousandfold more deeply.

***

*Text & translation is from: https://www.lieder.net/

Beim Schlafengehen (While Going to Sleep): The Four Last Songs, composed by Richard Strauss

SAXOPHONE

Travellers by Keri Johnson

Like an arrow cutting thru the sky
we are travelling thru this space and time

It is here, then gone before your life
a dream that's born and brought to life

We are travellers
We are travellers

Beyond our senses, out of sight
We are the rhythm of the night

Explore the world that lives inside
the journey's yours, enjoy the ride

We are travellers
We are travellers

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I make music because it is where I let go of the have-to’s, and become part of something larger than myself. The language I speak on the keyboard when I improvise expresses a part of me that only comes out there at the moment of creation - when I’m fully connected and in the flow. In those moments when I disappear in the music, those are where I’m most fully alive. The musical question I pose to myself when I play is largely this: how can I release my inhibitions and let go of patterns sufficient to bring something entirely new, unexpected, and enlightening into the world, with structure, precision, clarity, and depth of expression. These pieces are meditations that are of me, but more precisely, they come through me. When I’m in the flow, I’m channeling the energy and only moderately directing it. The challenge is to be open to take risks while maintaining a structure, melody, and tempo that makes it interesting and satisfying enough to keep listening. I keep doing this nightly because it’s a language, because it’s a connection to something greater than myself, and because it’s very very relaxing.

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