By the piano of my ancestral establishment lives a two-volume collection of German folk songs, and in that collection is a special section for Mailieder. I am wildly in favor of having an entire genre of songs devoted to May, and its traditionally associated joys of sunshine, going for long walks, and falling in love. Here is my favorite of these songs, "Der Mai ist gekommen."
Richard Tauber:
Erich Kunz, with photographs which, I swear, could have been taken on some of my 1st May Wandertage of years past:
And as a bonus, here is Fritz Wunderlich singing--what else?--"Im Wunderschönen Monat Mai," from Dichterliebe:
#1 of the Dichterliebe is one of my favorite things in all the world.
ReplyDeleteBut the words "Der Mai ist gekommen, der Winter ist aus" lead me to here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJTzRwtdUDY
I think we may share more than a few favorites, Dr. B. :) And that devastating use of the trope in Die schöne Müllerin is haunting.
ReplyDeleteBut Brahms! Brahms Brahms Brahms! OK, only the title mentions May, but...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru-bht3e7y8
@Zerbinetta Oh, thank you! I think I just felt all the tension melt out of my shoulders. How could I forget Brahms? And Christa Ludwig is such a treat.
ReplyDelete