Mignon songs

In 1795, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published a novel, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. I may own a copy, though I haven't actually read it.

One of the characters is Mignon, a young girl, maybe 12, who was abducted as a child by a traveling theater/circus troupe and forced to perform as a dancer. Mignon is traumatized, and communicates through song rather than speech. Goethe gives the lyrics to these songs, and of course various composers have set them to music.

It's interesting to compare these settings. In some of them it's hard to find a connection between the music and the (intense and profound) emotions expressed in the words.

The lists below are in decreasing order of my preference. Hugo Wolf is generally first. Not surprisingly: he has an ability, unique among all composers, to articulate the turbulent depths of the human psyche.

Kennst du das Land

The Wolf and Nordqvist settings convey Mignon's desperate and hopeless desire to return to the childhood that was stolen from her. The others don't quite do it for me.

Do you know the land where lemon trees bloom?
Among dark leaves, orange blossoms glow.
A gentle wind wafts from the azure sky.
The myrtle stands silent, the laurel tall.
    Do you know it?  Do you know it?
    There - there I want to go with you, O my beloved!

Do you know the house? Its roof rests on pillars,
the hall gleams, the chamber shimmers,
and marble statues stand and gaze at me:
what have they done, poor child, to thee?
    Do you know it?  Do you know it?
    There - there I want to go with you, O my protector!

Do you know the mountain and its clouded path?
The mule seeks its way through the mist.
In caverns sleep the dragon's ancient brood.
The rock falls steeply, and over it the flood.
    Do you know it?  Do you know it?
    There - there leads our road.
    O father, let us go!

Hugo Wolf | another rendition: Felicity Lott
Eliot Nordqvist (Great. Makes some allusions to the Wolf.)
Liszt
Alban Berg (1st stanza only)
Mark Adamo (from the opera 'Little Women')
Schumann
C.F. Zelter
Ambroise Thomas (from the opera 'Mignon')
Beethoven
Schubert
J.F. Reichardt

Versions with no recordings AFAIK:

It says here that there are 60 settings.

Somebody wrote a Master's thesis comparing 8 of the versions.

Heiss mich nicht reden

Don't ask me to speak - ask me to be silent,
for my secret is a solemn duty to me.
I wish I could bare my soul to you,
but Fate does not will it.

At the right time, the sun's course will dispell
the dark night, and it must be illuminated.
The hard rock will open its bosom; and
ungrudgingly, the earth will release deep hidden springs.

Others may seek calm in the arms of a friend;
there one can pour out one's heart in lament.
But for me alone, a vow locks my lips,
And only a god has the power to open them.

So lasst mich scheinen

Mignon is dressed as an angel for one of the performances. She is sick (with a heart condition) and anticipates her own death.

Thus let me seem till thus I become.
Do not take off my white dress!
I shall swiftly leave the fair earth
for that dark dwelling place below.

There, for a brief silence, I shall rest;
then my eyes shall open afresh.
Then I shall leave behind this pure raiment,
this girdle and this rosary.

And those heavenly beings
do not ask who is man or woman,
and no garments, no folds
enclose the transfigured body.

True, I lived free from care and toil,
yet I knew much deep suffering.
Too soon I grew old with grief;
make me young again for ever!

Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt

Only those who know longing
Know what I suffer!
Alone and cut off
From every joy,
I search the sky
In that direction.
Ah! he who loves and knows me
Is far away.
My head reels,
My body blazes.
Only those who know longing
Know what I suffer!