my twin sister and i sang this rather lovely song in the mid 50s with our all girls school choir Wombwell Secondary Modern school ,,,,, we sang it in unison , i always think we did a wonderful version ...the best infact xx
We sang this song in the school choir at competitions during the 50's.Our music teacher had a similar voice to Ms Baker. Ms Baker warms my heart with her beautiful voice.She is by far the finest singer in the world.
Surely one of the world's great artists .She always appeared with such grace and nobility-fine characteristics for young singer's to aspire to acquire.She is quite simply MAJESTIC!
I was first introduced to this song in the film Above Suspicion, when the great singer Fred MacMurray sang it with pianist Joan Crawford. They later became actors. Fred was in My Three Sons.
Janet Baket and Murray Perahia permeate us and force our reason to grasp this extraordinary interpretation. Their presence and their musical accents are perhaps the secret of the subjectivity of this music. Thank you for posting this amazing document !
@@kiwihans100Thank you for your reply. Perahia makes each note equal to that of the singer and it's how it should be. I admire Gerald Moore but this interpretation shows that we can do something else with equivalent qualities.
It's been (cogently) argued that Baker sings it TENDING towards Brahms, whereas Schwarzkopf, whose version no one - somewhat scandalously - seems to have mentioned, sings it TENDING back to Mozart: and it is (this can hardly be denied) a highly Mozartian work.
My co-workers were having fun speaking of the song, "Sylvia's Mother" and the time period it represents. One sent me this 'alternate version.' Who is Sylvia?, by Schubert, a lieder, is quite beautiful and representative of a different time. The elegance, respect, class if you will, is revealed quite pleasantly. Thank you, Janet Baker, for your interpreation. Now, back to my regularly scheduled program....work:)
Awkward, this 'a lieder' of yours: in German, 'Lieder' is the plural of (Das) Lied: if you're going to translate the title 'Who is Sylvia?' - Schubert wrote 'Wer ist Sylvia' - and it's irrelevant that this was a (very rough) translation of Shakespeare's poem -- why not simply say 'a song'?
@@julianwynne8705 Thank you, Julian, for the correction. My wife would appreciate that. She's from Berlin. Check out these stoners' tender song, Sylvia's Mother by Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7LXpnNKNxJI.html BTW, Dr. Hook did finally get his face on the cover of "Rolling Stone."
@@sylviastone1822 You know, search engines do wonders these days...Copy your same same question in a google browser window, hit enter, voila. Or you can just read Two Gentlemen of Verona by Shakespeare - it's in there.
Who is Silvia? what is she, That all our swains commend her? Holy, fair and wise is she; The heavens such grace did lend her, That she might admiréd be. Is she kind as she is fair? For beauty lives with kindness. Love doth to her eyes repair, To help him of his blindness, And being helped, inhabits there. Then to Silvia let us sing, That Silvia is excelling; She excels each mortal thing Upon the dull earth dwelling; To her let us garlands bring.
Thanks so much for the lyrics. I remember singing this song in elementary school in Jamaica, W.I and I had forgotten some of the words. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Who would like to know who Sylvia really was? Okay then...Sylvia is the daughter of the Duke of Verona from Shakespeare's' The Two Gentlemen Of Verona. Thurio and Proteus sings [Who Is Sylvia] under Sylvia's window hoping to woo her.
Thank you! This is really helpful, I'm trying to get more story/emotion into my solo so it's really good to know more about where the lyrics came from and their purpose and meaning :)
“Who is Silvia? what is she” By William Shakespeare (from Two Gentlemen of Verona) Who is Silvia? what is she, That all our swains commend her? Holy, fair, and wise is she; The heaven such grace did lend her, That she might admirèd be. Is she kind as she is fair? For beauty lives with kindness. Love doth to her eyes repair, To help him of his blindness; And, being helped, inhabits there. Then to Silvia let us sing, That Silvia is excelling; She excels each mortal thing Upon the dull earth dwelling; To her let us garlands bring!
To BenDalmont: Its a lovesong for a beautifull young lady called Sylvia. She is graced from heaven with kindness. Therefore all people love her. Its Schubert who composed fhis song. Listen the original version and you will understand.
In this instant, the memory of singing this song in music class back in the mid 1950's flicked into my consciousness. Furthermore, that lady music teacher,also had a fellow teacher that had a 'hit' on her. It seems that when songs,as well as the attendent music are in & around us over a period of time they seem to pick up 'variations' over the original. I must say that, although this sounds like the original version, that which we became attuned to,sounded a little more 'friendly' to the ear. However, this lady sings it well & is to be congratulated.
Good GOD...this is SO exquisite that it actually HURTS me to listen to such beauty of melody & voice. WONDERFUL x 1000000000 (SillyTillyWilly.........what a shame.)
That is a most intriguing comment. It makes me reflect and ask if your beauty 'excels each mortal thing'. Perhaps you should provide a more extensive picture of yourself so I may have a proper look at you.
Silvia is the manager at the hotel I'm going to in Florence. I really should email her to let her know what time we're arriving. Sadly Schubert didn't put her email address in the words.
Her translation is not exactly Shakespeare's words. The last line of the first verse should be "That she might admired be", and the final line should be "To her let us garlands bring".
soy de emxico y mi maestra de canto me la puso y esta muy bonita solo que yo la cantare en italiano pro creo q es lo mismo y canta muy bien damejanet baker congratulations...!!!!!!!!!!!!! by: ..::G´LO::..
I'm tone deaf, at age 13 I was kicked out the school choir and as I had been rejected I turned my back on the music industry. I admit to never having heard of the singer before, maybe that is partly because I was only born in 1959. Anyway, I can tell that this lady has a good voice and (from the comments) is held in high esteem. But I very much wish that I could actually understand the lyrics, alas the words are largely inaudible / lost because of the style in which the song is being sung.
Who is Silvia? what is she, That all our swains commend her? Holy, fair, and wise is she; The heaven such grace did lend her, That admired she might be Is she kind as she is fair? For beauty lives with kindness. Love doth to her eyes repair, To help him of his blindness; And, being helped, inhabits there. Then to Silvia let us sing, That Silvia is excelling; She excels each mortal thing Upon the dull earth dwelling; To her garland let us bring
@@DH-ix1zd i think i plat Du Bist die Ruh somewhere on my channel, if you are interested, I don't sing it, though. That would be even worse than my piano playing: I am not mellifluous and honey-tongued...ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2l6nLkp4DPs.html
this is what i understood: "'oo its silvia, what a sheep, and all our friends comment her, oooo did mary dwinedishee? - a hand that rapes the garden. Want a daughter? she might be, at a lawyer, she might be." Whats the point of singing a text if nobody can get what she's going on about?
You have made a rather foolish comment. You should have made an effort to find the words and read them carefully. Most people would know the words, which like the music, are very expressive and beautiful.
Alfred Duckett No. This is just not in the Spirit of Schubert. Not everybody does everything equally well. Take Jonas Kaufmann - I heard him perform "Die schöne Müllerin" live 2 or 3 years ago - adequate, but not great. While he does highly dramatic in French and Italian operas and Wagner sublimely and wonderfully.
what DOES THAT MEAN SWEETIE. I HATE TO SAY IT BUT YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. DAME JANET BAKER WAS ONE OF THE PREMIERE SINGERS OF SCHUBERT LIEDER..
