DE klagend character common Support my free tools
How is klagend played?
The composer writes klagend to ask for a complaining, plaintive, sorrowful character — the German counterpart to the Italian lamentoso. The verb klagen means both 'to lament' and 'to accuse', giving the word an edge of grievance beyond simple sadness. Mahler drew on exactly this double sense in his early cantata Das klagende Lied ('Song of Lamentation'), where a murdered victim's bone sings a song that both mourns and accuses. As a performance direction klagend asks for plaintive, speaking phrasing — drooping lines and an almost vocal sense of complaint.
How does klagend sound?
A plaintive, complaining sound, sorrowful with an undertone of grievance.
In context
Klagend is the German term for lamenting/plaintive expression. Mahler's cantata Das klagende Lied ('Song of Lamentation', completed 1880, premiered 1901) uses the word as its title; in German klagen carries the dual sense of both lamenting and accusing. (Note: there the word is a title, not a tempo marking.)
Equivalent terms
- IT lamentoso
- IT dolente
- FR plaintif
- EN lamenting
- DA klagende