Felix Mendelssohn


Interior with cello by Carl Holsøe

On Wings of Song, Op. 34, No. 2

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Felix Mendelssohn - On Wings of Song, Op. 34, No. 2

  • On Wings of Song, Op. 34, No. 2 - Performed by the Park Sisters
  • On Wings of Song, Op. 34, No. 2 - Arranged for Piano
    • The violin arrangement was performed and published by:
    The Park Sisters (Mi-Young Park, Violin & Pong-Hi Park, Piano)
    Source: https://parksistersmusic.com
    The piano arrangement on which this recording is based was created by the late Hiroshi Munekawa and made available to the public on his website, Piano1001.com. The site included a clear statement granting a free, public license for any non-commercial use, handling, and redistribution of his work. In the spirit of his generosity, and to help preserve his musical legacy, these new recordings are also shared under a non-commercial license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0.

    Recorded, produced, and published by: Gregor Quendel
    © 2025 CLASSICALS.DE EXCLUSIVE RECORDING*
    *The piano arrangement
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"On Wings of Song" (German: "Auf Flügeln des Gesanges"), Op. 34, No. 2, MWV K 86, is a piece by Felix Mendelssohn, the second of his "six songs for voice and piano" (Opus 34-2, 1834). It is a setting of the poem Auf Flügeln des Gesanges by the German Romantic poet Heinrich Heine published in his Buch der Lieder in 1827.

Original text:

“Auf Flügeln des Gesanges,
Herzliebchen trag’ ich dich fort,
Fort nach den Fluren des Ganges,
Dort weiß ich den schönsten Ort.

Dort liegt ein rothblühender Garten
Im stillen Mondenschein;
Die Lotosblumen erwarten
Ihr trautes Schwesterlein.

Die Veilchen kichern und kosen,
Und schau’n nach den Sternen empor;
Heimlich erzählen die Rosen
Sich duftende Mährchen in’s Ohr.

Es hüpfen herbei und lauschen
Die frommen, klugen Gazell’n;
Und in der Ferne rauschen
Des heiligen Stromes Well’n.

Dort wollen wir niedersinken
Unter dem Palmenbaum,
Und Liebe und Ruhe trinken,
Und träumen seligen Traum.”

English translation:

“On wings of singing,
My darling, I bear thee away,
Away to the meadows of Ganges,
There I know the most beautiful place.

There lies a red-blossomed garden
In the silent moonlight;
The lotus flowers await
Their dear little sister.

The violets titter and caress,
And gaze up at the stars;
Secretly the roses tell
Fragrant tales into each other's ear.

The pious, clever gazelles
Hop hither and listen;
And in the distance rush
The waves of the holy stream.

There we will sink down
Beneath the palm tree,
And drink love and peace,
And dream a blissful dream.”

- from Buch der Lieder (Book of Songs) by Heinrich Heine (1827).

Adaptations

Franz Liszt arranged "On Wings of Song" for solo piano (S. 547). 

The song has been translated into other languages and has been adopted in school music textbooks all over the world.

The song "Till My Love Comes to Me" (Paul Francis Webster), based on Mendelssohn's "On Wings of Song", sung by Doris Day, is included in the album Young at Heart.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Wings_of_Song_(Mendelssohn) / https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Auf_Flügeln_des_Gesanges / License: CC BY-SA 4.0

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