Mahler's first song-cycle shows strong connections with Schubert's last, notably in the texts. Mahler composed three of the four texts himself, and apparently emulated Müller directly, more so than simply picking up on general tendencies in German romantic lyric poetry. In approaching the composition of his texts, and these early songs, Mahler exhibited a latent historicism, which he may have been reluctant to admit in order to avoid comparisons to the past.

Works: Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: John Andrew Johnson