1906 Johanna Gadski Frank La Forge pno SCHUBERT The ERLKING Erkonig VICTOR 88040

$

30

A series of great  OPERA Records from early G&Ts to World War II recordings on 78 rpm Victrola Records

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Great early acoustic by Johanna Gadski with great Frank La Forge at the Piano in the most famous of all German Poems: Goethe's Erl King - setting by Franz Schubert.

The Erlking - Erlkönig
Franz Schubert (composer) 

Johanna Gadski (vocalist : soprano vocal) 
Frank La Forge (instrumentalist : piano) 
Description: Soprano vocal solo, with piano
Category: Vocal
Language: German

11/26/1906 New York, New York  Victor 88040

Great Victor Batwing 12" 78 rpm record

Condition:

BETTER THAN EXCELLENT Pristine has light matrix hiss, best with 5.0 stylus: plays very quiet some ticks

A GREAT COPY

The Erl King a complex song: Not only does the singer have to impersonate 4 voices: the father, the son, the Erl King and the narrator with different pitch and moods. Also, this is the story of a child that dies in a cold night from his own nightmares:

the Erl King is part of the germanic-slavic mythology of evil water spirits:
The father rides through the marshes at night. holding his son on his arm. All of a sudden, the son hears the voices of the erl king talking to him, inviting to play with him. The son resists, gets frenzied. Finally the Erl king pronounces: "And if you do not come freely, I will take you with force. "

The father rushes to the safety of the farm. In his arms, the child has died.

Here is the most famous of German Poems (everyone in Germany can recite at least the first few lines, and it has been spoofed in many parodies) in a good translation:

 

Erlkoenig

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Wer reitet so spSt durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er fa¯t ihn sicher, er hSlt ihn warm.

Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht? -
Siehst, Vater, du den Erlk÷nig nicht?
Den Erlenk÷nig mit Kron und Schweif? -
Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif. -

"Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!
Gar sch÷ne Spiele spiel ich mit dir;
Manch bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand,
Meine Mutter hat manch gnlden Gewand."

Mein Vater, mein Vater, und h÷rest du nicht,
Was Erlenk÷nig mir leise verspricht? -
Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind;
In dnrren BlSttern sSuselt der Wind. -

"Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn?
Meine T÷chter sollen dich warten sch÷n;
Meine T÷chter fnhren den nSchtlichen Reihn,
Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein."

Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlk÷nigs T÷chter am dnstern Ort? -
Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau:
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau. -

"Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine sch÷ne Gestalt;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt."
Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt fa¯t er mich an!
Erlk÷nig hat mir ein Leids getan! -

Dem Vater grausets, er reitet geschwind,
Er hSlt in Armen das Schzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit Mnhe und Not;
In seinen Armen das Kind war tot. 1782                    

The Erl-King

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Who's riding so late where winds blow wild
It is the father grasping his child;
He holds the boy embraced in his arm,
He clasps him snugly, he keeps him warm.

"My son, why cover your face in such fear?"
"You see the elf-king, father?
He's near! The king of the elves with crown and train!"
"My son, the mist is on the plain."

'Sweet lad, o come and join me, do!
Such pretty games I will play with you;
On the shore gay flowers their color unfold,
My mother has many garments of gold.'

"My father, my father, and can you not hear
The promise the elf-king breathes in my ear?"
"Be calm, stay calm, my child, lie low:
In withered leaves the night-winds blow."

'Will you, sweet lad, come along with me?
My daughters shall care for you tenderly;
In the night my daughters their revelry keep,
They'll rock you and dance you and sing you to sleep.'

"My father, my father, o can you not trace
The elf-king's daughters in that gloomy place?"
"My son, my son, I see it clear
How grey the ancient willows appear."

'I love you, your comeliness charms me, my boy!
And if you're not willing, my force I'll employ.'
"Now father, now father, he's seizing my arm.
Elf-king has done me a cruel harm."

The father shudders, his ride is wild,
In his arms he's holding the groaning child,
Reaches the court with toil and dread. -
The child he held in his arms was dead.