Franz-Josef Selig
Im Spätboot • Richard Strauss
- Reading time
- 3 min.
What is your one special Lied? Which few minutes of sung poetry would you take to a desert island, rescue from a fire, save from oblivion? We put the question to Franz-Josef Selig.
“Im Spätboot” - Richard Strauss (op.56/3)
Lyrics
Im Spätboot
Aus der Schiffsbank mach ich meinen Pfühl.
Endlich wird die heiße Stirne kühl!
O wie suß erkaltet mir das Herz!
O wie weich verstummen Lust und Schmerz!
Über mir des Rohres schwarzer Rauch
Wiegt und biegt sich in des Windes Hauch.
Hüben hier und drüben wieder dort
Hält das Boot an manchem kleinen Port:
Bei der Schiffslaterne kargem Schein
Steigt ein Schatten aus und niemand ein.
Nur der Steurer noch, der wacht und steht!
Nur der Wind, der mir im Haare weht!
Schmerz und Lust erleiden sanften Tod.
Einen Schlummrer trägt das dunkle Boot.
— Conrad Ferdinand Meyer
In the last boat
The boat's bench I make my pillow.
At last, my hot forehead turns cool!
O, how sweetly my heart grows cold!
How softly pleasure and pain fall silent!
Above me the black smoke from the funnel
swaying and wavering in the breeze.
Over here and then over there
the boat stops at many a small port:
by the dim light of the ship's lantern
a shadow gets off and no one comes on.
Only the steersman is left, still watching and standing!
Only the wind, that ruffles my hair!
Pain and pleasure die a gentle death.
The dark boat bears away this sleeping man.
—Translation: Emily Ezust
Franz-Josef Selig: ‘This song is particularly unusual and atypical within the realm of the art song, as Strauss clearly opted for a deep bass voice when setting to music the poem by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825-1898). Songs for bass often deal with the subject of death and the end of existence, as is the case here. In a major key (D-flat major) that is both dark and warm, the song describes how a dying man’s pain dissipates as he glides to the other shore. This setting touches me in a special way. Sooner or later, we all turn our minds to the finiteness of life. Music and poetry often take us by the hand with this thought and paint a variety of images: terror, pain, horror, but also and especially reconciliation with death. Supported by a philosophical or theological approach, the (music) poet wrestles with his own fear and life experience. But in many cases, as well as being described as a hopeless end, it can also be seen as a friend in whom one should confide. Trust – one of the most positive qualities – is what is expressed through music in many compositions, as is the case in the song “Im Spätboot” (in the late boat). Rather than being understood purely as sinisterly depressing, this music should also be seen as an invitation not to suppress concerns about our mortality, and as an attempt to prepare ourselves to face the incomprehensible and inevitable. In that sense, this song ends in a proverbial “deep relaxation”.’
