Gloomy Sunday (AKA The Hungarian Suicide Song)

Rebecca Nelsen, soprano
Chanda VanderHart, piano

Hungarian composer/pianist Rezső Seress composed and published this popular tune in 1933, which is one of our rainy-day favorites!

English lyrics:

Sunday is gloomy, my hours are slumberless
Dearest the shadows I live with are numberless
Little white flowers will never awaken you
Not where the black coach of sorrow has taken you
Angels have no thought of ever returning you
Would they be angry if I thought of joining you?
Gloomy Sunday

Gloomy is Sunday, with shadows I spend it all
My heart and I have decided to end it all
Soon there'll be candles and prayers that are sad I know
Let them not weep let them know I was glad to go
Death is no dream for in death I'm caressing you
With the last breath of my soul I'll be blessing you
Gloomy Sunday

Dreaming, I was only dreaming
I wake and I find you asleep in the deep of my heart, dear
Dreaming, it was only dreaming
I felt my heart melt when I thought that we two were apart
Were apart, were apart, far apart

Darling, I hope that my dream never haunted you
My heart is telling you how much I wanted you
Gloomy Sunday

This recording is part of a full, pre-recorded recital to open the NATS 2020 conference.

Sound recording at the Konzerthaus in Vienna by Georg Burdicek/Tonzauber
Filming by Olivier Grascoeur, Editing by Eric Stoklossa