The power of music. II

Two musical "amateurish" events I witnessed recently are worth this post.

In both, I saw them only on the web, but are so powerful, that I could not resisit posting about them...

Until I have time to put them directly here, please visit them via links:

Susan Boyle - 2009 discovery
Klaudia Kulawik - 2008 discovery

There is something unutterable, yet common in both these "girls",
even though at the first sight - everything is very different.
46 and 11 old - but their voices are so powerful...

The second girl song English lyrics are:

Strange is this world
where still there is so much evil
and it is strange that for so many years
man has had so much contempt for one another
Strange is this world of human affairs
sometimes one is ashamed to admit it
but it happens often that somebody
with a bad word kills like with a knife
But there are more people with good intentions
and I strongly believe in it that this world
won't perish thanks to them
it is the highest time
we destroyed hatred in ourselves

The first girl lyrics are:

There was a time when men were kind,
And their voices were soft,
And their words inviting.
There was a time when love was blind,
And the world was a song,
And the song was exciting.
There was a time when it all went wrong...
(...) "I Dreamed A Dream" - Les Miserables

do you feel the likeness of emotions?

Die Sonne scheidet hinter dem Gebirge

"The sun departs behind the mountains ..."

opens the last part of Gustav Mahler incredible symphony "The Song of the Earth". It is based on famous Chinese poetry of Li Tai-Po. The selection of particular poems made by Mahler reflects his message hidden in the music: the hidden farewell to life. It is quite amazing that he used Chinese poetry to express it - however - for a good reason - Chinese wisdom and its contemplation of earthly beauty along with expression of rootlessness and awareness of human fate is well known. See translations of the songs.

The music itself is almost mystical, the final movement "Der Abschied" can be listen again and again and again....

Last but not least - listening to Leonard Bernstein conducting this symphonic piece is worth waiting long into the night ....

See the song with translations. See the recording I listened to.