To be sung at the round dance
(Poet's title: Zum Rundetanz)
Set by Schubert:
D 983B
for TTBB quartet
Schubert did not set the stanza in italics[before 9th October 1823]
D Anh. I, 18
formerly D 132[1815 or 1816]
Auf! es dunkelt,
Silbern funkelt
Dort der Mond ob Tannenhöhn.
Auf und tanzt in froher Runde,
Diese Stunde
Dämmert unbewölkt und schön.
Im Gewässer
Strahlen blässer
Felsen, deren Rot verblich;
Und mit dunkelm Violette
Malt die Kette
Schroffer Schneegebirge sich.
Hüpft geschwinde
Um die Linde,
Die uns gelbe Blüten streut.
Lasst uns frohe Lieder singen,
Ketten schlingen,
Wo man traut die Hand sich beut.
Also schweben
Wir durchs Leben,
Leicht wie Rosenblätter hin.
An den Jüngling, dunkelt’s bänger,
Schließt sich enger
Seine traute Nachbarin.
Up! It is getting dark;
It is sparkling with silver –
The moon over there over the heights covered in fir trees!
Get up! and dance in a merry round;
This is the hour
Of twilight, unclouded and beautiful!
In the waters
Glowing more faintly
Are the cliffs, whose red colour has faded;
And a dark violet
Is being painted over the chain
Of steep snow-covered mountains.
Leap quickly
Around the lime tree
That is strewing yellow blossom over us.
Let us sing merry songs,
Let us tie ourselves in chains
As we intimately offer each other our hand.
In this way we float
Through life,
Moving on lightly like rose petals.
She approaches the young man as it gets darker and her anxiety grows,
She attaches herself more closely to him –
His devoted neighbour.
All translations into English that appear on this website, unless otherwise stated, are by Malcolm Wren. You are free to use them on condition that you acknowledge Malcolm Wren as the translator and schubertsong.uk as the source. Unless otherwise stated, the comments and essays that appear after the texts and translations are by Malcolm Wren and are © Copyright.
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Themes and images in this text:
Chains and shackles Hands Flying, soaring and gliding Flowers Lime trees (Lindenbaum) May Mountains and cliffs Night and the moon Pine trees Pouring, scattering and strewing Roses and pink Silver Yellow Dancing
This appears to be an example of a song that reflects the tradition of dancing around a linden tree to welcome in the month of May. There are garlands and twisting ribbons, so the tree is a genuine ‘May pole’, but the dance takes place as night falls on Walpurgisnacht, the night before May day, when the witches were said to ride off for their sabbath. These happy dancers have more conventional vernal concerns, though. The chains and ribbons that entwine them represent and encourage a drive to physical proximity and union. The sexual imagery is not even covert: yellow blossom, rose petals, a mighty tree. ‘Up!’
Other Schubert settings relating to Dancing into May: D 244 Willkommen, lieber schöner Mai D 305 Mein Gruß an den Mai D 344 Am erste Maimorgen
However:
Despite the references to the open air and the lime tree it is extremely unlikely that Salis-Seewis envisaged this dance really taking place outside after dark. It is surely more suitable for a ballroom towards the end of the evening as more and more candles are burning down or have been extinguished. The final strophe gives licence to some of the dancers to hold each other more tightly despite the formal conventions of the ball.
At the time the poet wrote this he was serving in the Swiss guards at Versailles in the household of Queen Marie-Antoinette. She too liked to play the peasant at times (in her theme-park village in the garden), but she spent her nights indoors.
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Original Spelling Lied beym Rundetanz Auf! es dunkelt; Silbern funkelt Dort der Mond ob Tannenhöhn! Auf! und tanzt in froher Runde; Diese Stunde Dämmert unbewölkt und schön! Im Gewässer Strahlen blässer Felsen, deren Roth verblich; Und mit dunkelm Violette Malt die Kette Schroffer Schneegebirge sich. Hüpft geschwinde Um die Linde, Die uns gelbe Blüthen streut. Laßt uns frohe Lieder singen, Ketten schlingen, Wo man traut die Hand sich beut. Also schweben Wir durchs Leben, Leicht wie Rosenblätter, hin. An den Jüngling, dunkelts bänger, Schließt sich enger Seine traute Nachbarin.
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Gedichte von J. G. von Salis. Gesammelt durch seinen Freund Friedrich Matthisson. Zürich, bey Orell, Gessner, Füssli und Compagnie. 1793, pages 67-68; with Gedichte von J.G. von Salis. Neue Auflage. Zürich, bey Orell Füßli und Compagnie. 1808, pages 17-18; and with Schubert’s source, Gedichte von J. G. von Salis. Neueste Auflage. Wien 1815. Bey B. Ph. Bauer, pages 16-17.
First published in a different version in Hamburger Musenalmanach 1789
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 16 [30 von 192] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ160622604