Lieder and Part Songs

As Max Reger's cousin and the student of Joseph Rheinberger Hans Koessler - a friend of Johannes Brahms - grew up in a musically highly inspiring environment. Franz Liszt appointed him to his Royal Hungarian Music Academy in Budapest to influence as one of the most sought-after teachers of composition an entire generation of Hungarian composers. Among his students are such well-known names as Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Ernst von Dohnányi, Fritz Reiner and Emmerich Kálmán. The Lieder und Gesänge (Lieder and part songs), published in 1912, form Koessler's central contribution to the genre of choral songs. The moving lyrics by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Heinrich Heine and others range from the contemplation of nature to the pain of parting. All choral pieces include singable English lyrics in addition to the original German texts.