Katharina Franck recently finished work on her latest project, a CD of new music for poetry by Rilke. The album was done in collaboration with the Club der toten Dichter (Dead Poets Club). Bandleader Reinhardt Repke composed the music and Katharina did the singing. In the video below, you can listen to their interpretation of “Zum Einschlafen zu sagen” (“To be said when going to sleep”) (1900). My office decided to help make Rilke more accessible to non-German speakers and worked out a new English translation.
German: “Zum Einschlafen zu sagen” Ich möchte jemanden einsingen, bei jemandem sitzen und sein. Ich möchte dich wiegen und kleinsingen und begleiten schlafaus und schlafein. Ich möchte der Einzige sein im Haus, der wüsste: die Nacht war kalt. Und möchte horchen herein und hinaus in dich, in die Welt, in den Wald. Die Uhren rufen sich schlagend an, und man sieht der Zeit auf den Grund. Und unten geht noch ein fremder Mann und stört einen fremden Hund. Dahinter wird Stille. Ich habe groß die Augen auf dich gelegt; und sie halten dich sanft und lassen dich los, wenn ein Ding sich im Dunkel bewegt.
English: “To be said when going to sleep” I’d like to sing someone to sleep, to sit and be right next to them. I’d like to cradle and gently lull you, and accompany you sleep-in, sleep-out. I’d like to be the only one at home who knows: the night is cold. And would like to listen within and without, into you, the world, the woods. The clocks, striking, call out to each other and we can see to the bottom of time. And down below there’s a stranger stirring up someone else’s dog. Beyond, silence begins. I have wrapped my gaze around you; and it holds you gently and lets go of you when something moves in the dark.
I recently came across this word again, which according to most dictionaries means “to grin like a Cheshire cat.” Having always wondered about the etymology of this word, I asked a relative from Northern Germany how “honey cake horse” came to be associated with smiling. She said it must be a Bavarian word. I hadn’t realized that honey cake is a type of gingerbread. The Wikipedia explains that honey cake was the forerunner of today’s Lebkuchen and that “its history can be traced back to the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans. They believed that honey, the only sweetener widely available to them, was a gift of the deities and had magical and healing powers. Honey cakes were also worn as a talisman in battle or as protection against evil spirits.” Teutonic peoples used honey cakes for the same purpose especially around the winter solstice, which might be the reason Lebkuchen became associated with Christmas. Next time I come across the word, I will think of the rocking-horse-shaped gingerbread cookie with its big frosty smile.
Thomas Koch AKA DJ T.: The Berlin DJ’s Top 10 Tracks
We recently translated a list of DJ T.’s all-time top 10 favorite tracks. Check it out here. While I was familiar with the American artists he cites, I discovered a great Italo-disco track I hadn't heard before: “Spacer Woman” (1983) by Charlie.
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For me, Cathy Lara is a revelation. Whenever I need an English translation, I would like her to do it. Her work is perfect, reliable, and on schedule. Dr. Harro Schweizer, editorial office in Berlin
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