Zueignung, Op. 10 No. 1
Gefunden, Op. 56 No. 1
Begegnung. WoO. 72
Heimliche Aufforderung, Op. 27 No. 3
Das Rosenband, Op. 36 No. 1
Die erwachte Rose, WoO. 66
Glückes genug, Op. 37 No. 1
Rote Rosen, WoO. 76
Freundliche Vision, Op. 48 No. 1
Die Nacht, Op. 10 No. 3
Ständchen, Op. 17 No. 2
Traum durch die Dämmerung, Op. 29 No. 1
Morgen!, Op. 27 No. 4
Die Georgine, Op. 10 No. 4
Die Verschwiegenen, Op. 10 No. 6
Cäcilie, Op. 27 No. 2
Breit’ über mein Haupt, Op. 19 No. 2
Waldseligkeit, Op. 49 No. 1
Winterweihe, Op. 48 No. 4
Allerseelen, Op. 10 No. 8
Ruhe, meine Seele!, Op. 27 No. 1
Befreit, Op. 34 No. 4

“Without wanting to detract from the genius of Schubert or Schumann, we [Re: Sarah Wegener & Götz Payer] have a different answer: we would have loved to live at the turn from the 19th to the 20th century, ”fin de siecle”, amidst the transition from Naturalism to Modernism with the currents of Jugendstil and Impressionism.

What a time that must have been, when composers of the likes of Reger, Mahler, Schoenberg, Webern, Berg, Alma Mahler-Werfel, and Zemlinsky were in their prime, along with Richard Strauss, perhaps the most dazzling representative of his generation. Not to mention all the outstanding composers in neighboring European countries.

We should not forget how important poetry was in those days. Many poets we now find unfamiliar – Otto Julius Bierbaum, Herrmann von Gilm, Detlev von Liliencron, Charles Mackay, Felix Dahn, and Richard Dehmel – were widely admired, and their texts were set to music by countless composers.

Take, for example, Richard Dehmel, whom we have just mentioned. Hundreds of musical settings of his poems exist, and his output inspired artists such as Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner to create entire cycles of paintings. The artsong catalogue of Richard Strauss contains over 200 lieder, with a number of Dehmel settings including “Befreit”.

(Excerpt from the booklet)

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Recording: XI 2020, SWR, Studio Kaiserslautern.