Swan song
As a swan song refers to the last work of a musician or a poet . The last speech by a politician is also often referred to in a broader sense of the word as swan song. Another name is the swan song (among others by Gottfried August Bürger , Clemens Brentano , Hedwig Dohm ). The last cycle of works by Heinrich Schütz from the year he died in 1672 is called Schwanengesang ( SWV 482-494), a typical late work. Famous is the last song cycle by Franz Schubert , which was put together by his publisher under the title Schwanengesang after his death .
etymology
The expression goes back to an old Greek myth , which says that swans sing one last song before they die in a sad but beautiful voice. In one version of this myth, Cyknos wandered in a poplar grove on the banks of the Eridanus River , mourning the death of his most loyal friend Phaëton . The gods took pity on him and turned him into a swan of shining stars . Before Kyknos died of grief over his beloved friend, he sang in a manner surpassed in sad beauty by any other song. In Phaedo , Socrates explains the particularly impressive and happy song of the swans before their death with their foreknowledge of the good in the underworld. In music, the mythological tradition was taken up, among others, by Orlando Gibbons with The Silver Swan or by Orazio Vecchi and Jakob Arcadelt with Il bianco e dolce cigno in the 16th century.
See also
- The dying swan
- Schwanenkönig , music album of Karat (band) 1980
literature
- Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Wander (Hrsg.): German Proverbs Lexicon. A treasure trove for the German people. FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1867, 1870, 1873, 1876, 1880. Reprints: Scientia-Verlag, Aalen 1963; Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1964; Academic Publishing House Athenaion, Kettwig 1987; Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 1987, Volume 4, p. 417
- Hans Biedermann: Knaurs Lexicon of Symbols. Knaur, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-426-66403-8 , p. 392
