The Dyers Hand and Other Essays

A different kind of stylistic problem is presented by the Brecht-Weill ballet Die sieben Todsiinden which is set in a contemporary but mythical America. A contemporary Amer­ican diction is called for, but it must not be too specifically so or the mythical element will disappear. Thus, while the translation must not contain words which are only used in British English—haus must be translated as home not as house—it would be wrong, although the family are said to live in Louisiana, to translate the German into the speech of American Southerners.

In one chorus the family list various delicious foods.

Hornchen! Schnitzel! Spar gel! Huhnchen! Und die kleinen gelben Honigkiichen

that is:

Muffins! Cudets! Asparagus! Chickens! And those little yellow honey-buns!

Though Americans do eat all of these, they do not make a characteristic list of what Americans, particularly from the South, would think of with the greatest greedy longing. Accordingly, we changed the list to:

Crabmeat! Porkchops! Sweet-corn! Chicken! And those golden biscuits spread with honey!

The images and metaphors characteristic of one culture and language are not always as effective in another. Thus, a literal translation of one of the verses sung by Anna in Lust would go:

And she shows her litde white backside, Worth more than a little factory, Shows it gratis to starers and corner-boys, To the profane look of the world.

The most powerful line in this verse is the second, but, in American English, "a little factory" makes no impact. Some other comparison must be thought of:

Now she shows off her white litde fanny, Worth twice a little Texas motel,

And for nothing the poolroom can stare at Annie As though she'd nothing to sell.

Translating Arias

An aria very rarely contains information which it is essential for the audience to know in order to understand the action and which must, therefore, be translated literally; all that a translation of an aria must do is convey the emotion or conflict of emotions which it expresses. At the same time, the arias in an opera are as a rule its high points musically, so that it is in them that the quality of the translation matters most. So far as an original librettist is concerned, all that matters is that his verses should inspire the composer to write beautiful music, but the translator is in a different position. The music is already there, and it is his duty to make his verses as worthy of it as he can.

Before Wagner and Verdi in his middle years, no com­poser worried much about the libretto; he took what he was given and did the best he could with it. This was possible because a satisfactory convention had been established as to the styles and forms in which libretti should be written which any competent versifier could master. This meant, however, that, while a composer could be assured of getting a settable text, one libretto was remarkably like another; all originality and interest had to come from the music. Today, it is idle to pretend that we can listen to a Mozart opera with the ears of his contemporaries, as if we had never heard the operas of Wagner, the late Verdi and Strauss in which the libretto plays an important role. In listening to a Mozart opera, we cannot help noticing when the text is banal or silly, or becom­ing impatient when a line is repeated over and over again. Having the beautiful music in his ears, a modern translator must feel it his duty to make his version as worthy of it as he can.

O Don Ottavio's first aria

Dalla sua pace La mia depende, Quelch'al lei piace Vita mi rende,

Quel che I'incresce Morte mi da. S'ella sospira Sospir' anchio, E mia quell'ira Que pianto & mio, E non ho hene S'ella non I'ha

Upon her peace / my peace depends / what pleases her / grants me life/and what saddens her/gives me death. If she sighs /1 also sigh / mine is her anger / and her grief is mine/I have no joy/if she has none.