Brothers, Brother, be now merry
Find your couage,
swallow your gripes
The Earth is cursed,
we’re all doomed
Everyone, too, is
wrought with strife
Let us sing
Let us laugh
You can’t make it
any different
This world, this
pain, doesn’t matter
No one, no where is free of pest.
(My own attempt and translation.)
A jovial opening with austere lyrics for a melancholy opera. I wonder if Mozart's kin, friends, acquaintances, and wannabe therapizers, were saying similar things as written in this song. 'Hey, Wolfgang buck up. Life is miserable for everyone.' As I have said in my Zaide post, life was rough at this point in Mozart's life. He could have seen himself as a slave in his own right. But, why such happy lyric to begin the opera. Much of Mozart music seems to be an attempt to mask or cure misery. Was that what going on here? Did he write the jovial musical opening, as a means to convince himself? An 'fake it until you make it' kind of thing. Or, is it simply an ironic device? "Oh. You want me to be happy? Ok. I'll just do that then." Or both?
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