Mendelssohn's On Wings of Song (Song)

Classical Music / Song

"On Wings of Song" (German: "Auf Flügeln des Gesanges"), is a song by German composer Felix Mendelssohn, the second of his "six songs for voice and piano" (Opus 34-2, 1834). He dedicated it to his beloved older sister, Fanny Mendelssohn, also a composer. The music is a setting of the poem "Auf Flügeln des Gesanges" by the German Romantic poet Heinrich Heine published in his Buch der Lieder in 1827. Franz Liszt arranged On Wings of Song for solo piano (S. 547). This song has been translated into other languages and has been adopted in school music textbooks for China, Japan and Korea.

Thanks to Youtube uploader Papermoon2011, together with the lyrics in English translation, here's a beautiful rendition of an all-time favourite short composition from Felix Mendelssohn,  "Auf Flügeln des Gesanges" (English: "On Wings of Song"), sung by tenor Peter Schreier, accompanied on the piano by pianist Walter Olbertz.




Lyrics (English translation) 

On wings of song,  my love,
I'll carry you away to the fields of the Ganges.
Where I know the most beautiful place.
There lies a red-flowering garden, in the serene moonlight,
the lotus-flowers await. Their beloved sister.

The violets giggle and cherish, and look up at the stars,
The roses tell each other secretly their fragrant fairy-tales.
The gentle, bright gazelles, pass and listen;
and in the distance murmurs the waves of the holy stream.

There we will lay down, under the palm-tree,
and drink of love and peacefulness.
And dream our blessed dream.

Links to Mendelssohn's all-time favourite  "Auf Flugeln des Gesanges": 

6 Gesänge, Op. 34: No. 2, Auf Flügeln des Gesanges. Sung by Peter Schreier. YouTube. Accessed June 26, 2023.

Auf Flügeln des Gesanges (Song). Oxford International Festival.  [Lyrics in English & German]

Felix Mendelssohn: Auf Fluegeln des Gesanges - Julian Pregardien & Els Biesemans. YouTube, uploaded by Els Biesemans. Accessed June 26, 2023.  

Felix Mendelssohn - On Wings of Song. YouTube, uploaded by NancyFloresSantos. Accessed Sept 11, 2016. 

Jascha Heifetz Felix Mendelssohn On Wings of Song Op 34 No 2. YouTube, uploaded by JessieMelody1. Accessed June 26, 2023.

Mendelssohn: Auf Flügeln des Gesanges, Op. 34, No. 2. YouTube, sung by Kiri Te Kanawa. Accessed June 26, 2023.

Mendelssohn: Auf Flügeln des Gesanges, Op. 34, No. 2. Song of the cello, performed by Mischa Maisky. Accessed June 26, 2023.

"On Wings of Song" performed by KNUA Pre-College students ( Korea National University of Arts).

Resources:

On Wings of Song (Mendelssohn). Wikipedia.  

On Wings of Song (Poem). Wikipedia. 

Naturally, Google Search for links...

(c) September 11, 2014. Updated June 26, 2023. Tel Asiado. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.