Good-bye, Vienna (1988)

Julius Bürger’s Good-bye, Vienna belongs to the iconic Wienerlied style whose lyrics typically center on themes of love, loss, joy and scenes from everyday life. Among other genres synonymous with the city, such as the waltz and Schrammelmusik, the Wienerlied is perhaps the most reflective of the soul of Vienna.

Good-bye, Vienna is Bürger’s last known work from an impressive oeuvre spanning over 70 years (1915-1988) and places Bürger amongst other notable composers of the genre such as Rudolf Sieczyński, Robert Stolz, Hermann Leopoldi and Fritz Kreisler. It is a quintessential ‘Viennese’ lied which offers poignant insight into the composer’s inner world as he reflects on a life of displacement, upheaval and reveals his own Sehnsucht (intense longing) for the past in this bittersweet ode to the city of his birth.

Bürger completed the music and lyrics for Good-bye, Vienna on February 24th, 1988, from his apartment in Queens, NY at the age of 90; nearly fifty years after leaving Europe due to the annexation (Anschluss) of Austria by the Third Reich.

This new arrangement by Exilarte dutifully honours the original version, transforming the work into a beautiful presentation for voice and orchestra.

— Dr. Ryan Hugh Ross

Lyrics
Einmal lebte ich in Wien, im schönen Wien.
Aber jetzt ist es nicht mehr mein Wien.
Wo sind die Zeiten, die frohen Zeiten,
Da jung ich war voll Lebensmut?

Sie sind vergangen,
so schnell, so schnell vergangen,
es war ein Traum, ich merkt es kaum.

Wo sind die Spiele des frühen Lebens?
Er strebt zum Ziele, kann es nicht fassen
Das Glück in seiner Hand,
Weiß nicht wie es entschwand.

Wo sind die Zeiten, die schönen Zeiten,
Sie sind vorbei, so schnell vorbei!

Once I lived in Vienna, in beautiful Vienna
But it is no longer my Vienna
Where are the times, the joyful times
When I was full of youthful courage?

They have passed,
so quickly gone
It was a dream, I hardly noticed its passing

Where are the playful games of early life?
The goal for which he strove cannot be reached
The happiness in your hand, I know not
what became of it

Where are those times, those joyful times
They are gone, so quickly gone!

English Translation by Dr. Ryan Hugh Ross
© 2018. CardiM, Wales UK

About the Exilarte Edition
G. Schirmer/Wise Music’s Exilarte Edition exclusively publishes works by composers who were persecuted, forced into exile, or murdered by the Nazi regime. All original manuscripts of these works are archived in the Exilarte Center at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in Austria.