Brothers, love is a teacher, but a hard one to obtain: learning to love is hard and we pay dearly for it. It takes hard work and a long apprenticeship, for it is not just for a moment that we must learn to love, but forever.
(Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov)
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Happy Brahmsday
The most humane composer of all time would be 178 years old today. To celebrate, one of the most beautiful of his works, "Zum Schluss" (In the End), the last song in the Neue Liebesliederwalzer, set to a text by Goethe:
Now, you Muses, enough! In vain you strive to show how misery and happiness change places in the loving breast. You cannot heal the wounds that Love has caused, but solace comes, dear ones, only from you.
He is the most humane composer! I always feel like he's saying, "Death is sweet, but life is sweeter." Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteOh, he is saying that, Simcha -- his words exactly! : )
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