Mondnacht: Moonlit Night

Es war, als hätt' der Himmel,
Die Erde still geküßt,
Daß sie im Blütenschimmer
Von ihm nun träumen müßt.

Die Luft ging durch die Felder,
Die Ähren wogten sacht,
Es rauschten leis die Wälder,
So sternklar war die Nacht.

Und meine Seele spannte
Weit ihre Flügel aus,
Flog durch die stillen Lande,
Als flöge sie nach Haus.

It was as if heaven kissed the earth, that the earth must dream of heaven by the blossoms' glow. The breeze blew through the fields, and the sheaves swayed.  The forests rustled quietly.  The night was so star-clear. and my soul spread out its wings wide, soared through the silent country, as if it were flying home.

This Eichendorff poem is one of my favorites of the German Romantic epoch, and this stunningly beautiful setting of it by Robert Schumann from his Liederkreis cycle brings the text to life.  I've known the poem for years, but the first time I heard it as an artsong decades ago, I recall being utterly mesmerized as if suspended.  The music and text capture you under their hypnotic spell.  Schreier renders this artsong with perfection: not a quiver in his voice.  Smooth, simple, like the moon gliding across the horizon.  It's like a glassy pond: not a single ripple.  I love the final stanza the best.  I equate Eichendorff's words here to the feeling of complete trust and contentment while falling asleep beside the one you love. Complete surrender and rest.