“Morgen!” -Richard Strauss

Tomorrow again will shine the sun
And on my sunlit path of earth
Unite us again, as it has done,
And give our bliss another birth…
The spacious beach under wave-blue skies
We’ll reach by descending soft and slow,
And mutely gaze in each other’s eyes,
As over us rapture’s great hush will flow

I consider this to be one of the greatest masterpieces in the entire canon of song literature. Strauss manages to convey the deeply philosophical nature of the text with great emotional pathos. There is a forlorn sort of optimism to this song. The singer responds to the gentle dream like melody of the violin by opening with a strong and definite statement: ‘And tomorrow the sun will shine again.’ She goes on with a sense of optimism, but there’s a persistent longing that drives the music forward, and we are left to wonder: What guarantee is there of a tomorrow?

I first heard this piece performed by baritone, Thomas Hampson whilst spening the summer studying music at Tanglewood. The performance was at Ozawa Hall, an architectural and acoustic gem located in the Massachusetts Berkshire mountains. Hampson invested the song with so much depth of emotion and musicality— it was one of those rare moments when you realize that the very moment you are experiencing could simply never be replicated again. I think that that is the very thing that makes this song so special. That temporal quality that makes us realize that we must live in the present, whether it be in a performance or in every day life, all that we have is that very moment.