Original Compositions / English Translations of Art Songs & Arias / Program Notes
La Serenata
Vola,
O serenata:
La mia diletta è sola,
E, con la bella testa abbandonata,
Posa tra le lenzuola:
O serenata,
Vola.
Splende
Pura la luna;
L’ale silenzio stende,
E dietro i veli dell’alcova bruna
La lampada s’accende:
Pura la luna
Splende.
Vola,
O serenata:
La mia diletta è sola;
Ma, sorridendo ancor mezzo assonnata,
Torna fra le lenzuola:
O serenata,
Vola.
L’onda
Sogna su 'l lido,
E’l vento su la fronda;
E a’baci miei ricusa ancora un nido
La mia signora bionda!
Sogna su 'l lido
L’onda.
--Italian lyrics:
Giovanni Alfredo Cesareo, 1860-1937
Serenade
Fly now,
O thou serenade:
My belovéd is all alone,
And, with her lovely head thrown back and disarrayed,
Midst silken sheets she doth repose:
O thou serenade,
Fly now.
Shining
Brightly comes the moon;
Soft silence spreads its wing,
And through a darkening veil from the alcove's gloom
The lamplight yet is glowing:
Brightly comes the moon,
Shining.
Take flight,
O my serenade:
My belovéd is yet alone;
She's but half asleep while, by her sly smile betrayed,
She snuggles into the bedclothes:
O my serenade,
Take flight.
Dreaming
Waves kiss the hushed sands,
As branches dance in balmy air;
But into their nest find my kisses no entrance,
Thus refused by my damsel fair!
Waves kiss the hushed sands
And dream.
--English versions ©2012 by Edward Lein; all rights reserved
Alternate version:
Fly now,
O thou song of night:
My belovéd is all alone,
And, with her lovely head laid back so carelessly,
Midst silken sheets she doth repose:
O thou song of night,
Fly now.
Shining
Brightly comes the moon;
Soft silence spreads its wing,
And through a darkening veil from the alcove's gloom
The lamplight yet is glowing:
Brightly comes the moon,
Shining.
Fly now,
O thou song of night:
My belovéd is all alone;
Yet, half succumbing to sleep and with a sly smile,
She snuggles into the bedclothes:
O thou song of night,
Fly now.
Dreaming,
The waves kiss the shore,
And branches dance in balmy air;
But into their nest find my kisses no entrance,
Thus refused by my damsel fair!
The waves kiss the shore,
And dream.