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

🎶✍️Music brings hope in darkness, poetry sheds light in verses.

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