Description

The eight songs after texts by the now little-known poet Hermann von Gilm, composed by Richard Strauss in 1885, hold a special place in his Lieder corpus. This was the first time Strauss composed an entire set of songs on texts by a single poet, compiling them into a single opus that would also be published. Some of the songs, like "Zueignung," "Die Nacht," and "Allerseelen," are among Strauss' most popular, but the well-structured cycle as a whole deserves closer examination and performance. By choosing the Romantic theme of unrequited love and exploring its diverse facets, the aspiring composer consciously aligned himself with the tradition of composers from Schubert to Wolf.

The original 1887 high voice edition of Op. 10 was later followed by Strauss-approved transposed versions for middle and low voices during the composer's lifetime - a practice that would become standard for his song output. Henle's new Urtext edition for middle voice aims to make this wondrous song cycle accessible to a wide range of vocalists.