Текст и перевод песни Andries Bezuidenhout - Klavierles by Mev Kaplan

Klavierles by Mev Kaplan

Klavierles by Mevrou Kaplan op ʼn Donderdagmiddag
Ek loop draaie deur die dorp om Willie Bothma te vermy
Een keer ʼn week oefen ek en Hafiza
ʼn Duet van Debussy op die upright Steinway
Soms luister ons plate, blaai saam deur ʼn boek
Mevrou Kaplan wat die opera voor die oorlog besoek
Ons praat oor museums, oor dae lank verby
Skildery wat in Wene agter moes bly

Mevrou Kaplan ek onthou nou die kandelaar op jou Steinway
In jou huis wat ruik na vla en kaneel
Ons kon luister ek lees en plate speel
Ek kon myself net somtyds ʼn ander wêreld verbeel

Die stuk van Debussy sou ons opvoer in die skoolsaal
Selfs die kerkraad vergader om die reëlings te bepaal
Maar soos als nou maar was, was die oomblik te veel
En moes ek die duet as solo improviseer

Mevrou Kaplan ek onthou nou die kandelaar op jou Steinway
In jou huis wat ruik na vla en kaneel
Ons kon luister ek lees en plate speel
Ek kon myself net somtyds ʼn ander wêreld verbeel

Die sinagoge nou ʼn pakhuis en Kaplans gesluit
Mevrou Kaplan se kinders is lankal landuit
Haar seun in Sidney, dogter in Tel Aviv
Skryf klokslag elke maand darem nog ʼn brief
Aan die weduwee Kaplan in haar Seepunt woonstel
Wat wonder oor Debussy en Karoodorp klavierspel

Mevrou Kaplan ek onthou nou die kandelaar op jou Steinway
In jou huis wat ruik na vla en kaneel
Ons kon luister ek lees en plate speel
Ek kon myself net somtyds ʼn ander wêreld verbeel

Piano Lessons by Mrs. Kaplan

Piano lessons with Mrs. Kaplan on a Thursday afternoon
I walk circles through town to avoid Willie Bothma
Once a week I practice with Hafiza
A Debussy duet on the upright Steinway
Sometimes we listen to records, browse through a book together
Mrs. Kaplan who visited the opera before the war
We talk about museums, about days long gone
Paintings that had to stay behind in Vienna

Mrs. Kaplan I remember now the candelabra on your Steinway
In your house that smells of custard and cinnamon
We could listen, I could read and play records
I could sometimes imagine only a different world

The Debussy piece we were to perform in the school hall
Even the church council meets to determine the arrangements
But as everything was now, the moment was too much
And I had to improvise the duet as a solo

Mrs. Kaplan I remember now the candelabra on your Steinway
In your house that smells of custard and cinnamon
We could listen, I could read and play records
I could sometimes imagine only a different world

The synagogue now a warehouse and Kaplans closed
Mrs. Kaplan's children have long since left the country
Her son in Sydney, daughter in Tel Aviv
Write regularly every month but still a letter
To the widow Kaplan in her Sea Point apartment
Wondering about Debussy and Karoo piano playing

Mrs. Kaplan I remember now the candelabra on your Steinway
In your house that smells of custard and cinnamon
We could listen, I could read and play records
I could sometimes imagine only a different world