"Glück, das mir verblieb"
Bliss, that has remained with me
Bliss, that has remained with me,
come close to me, my true love.
In the grove evening is waning,
yet you are my light and day.
Heart beats anxiously on heart,
while hope soars up to heaven.
How true, a melancholy song.
The song of true love,
that must die.
I know this song.
I often heard it sung
in happier days of youth.
There is another verse -
Can I remember it?
Though dismal cares are closing in,
come close to me, my true love.
Bend your pale face to me,
death will not part us.
If you must one day leave me,
believe, that we will meet again.
Die tote Stadt (The Dead City) was composed in 1920 by Austrian musical prodigy Erich Korngold, who emigrated to America in 1934 where he wrote many music scores for Hollywood films.
The "dead city" of the opera's title is Bruges in Belgium. At the start of Act 1, Paul tells a friend that he has seen Marie, his dead wife, or her double, in the town and invited her to visit him. When she arrives, Paul calls her Marie, but she says she is Marietta, a dancer from Lille. He is enchanted by her, and asks her to sing for him. “Marietta’s Song” expresses the joy of love, as well as sadness that it must end. She urges her true love to believe they can never truly be parted, although Paul eventually leaves both Marietta and Bruges.