Ten Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn

In 1887 Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) came upon what would be for him a great treasure: Des Knaben Wunderhorn: alte deutsche Lieder (The Youth's Miraculous Horn: Old German Songs), an anthology of more than 700 folk songs and poems (named for the first piece in the collection) that had been published in the early 1800s by the German poets Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano. For the next 14 years Mahler made use of this anthology for all but one of his song texts.

The first 10 of these 15 celebrated songs come together here — both in the original German and in English translations: "Der Schildwache Nachtleid" (The sentinel's nightsong), "Verlone Müh'"(Labor lost), "Trost im Unglück" (Solace in sorrow), "Wer had dies Liedel erdacht?" (Up there on the hill), "Das irdische Leben" (Earthly life), "Lied des Verfolgten im Turm" (Song of the persecuted man in the tower), "Wo die Schönen Trompeten blasen" (Where the beautiful trumpets blow), "Lob des hohen Verstandes" (In praise of lofty intelligence), "Rheinlegendchen" (little legend of the Rhine), and "Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt" (Antonius of Padua's fish sermon). This volume, rich in exceptional music reprinted from authoritative sources, is sure to delight Mahler devoteés as well as all lovers of art songs.

Original selection of songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Orchesterbegleitung von Gustav Mahler, Universal-Edition, Vienna, 1905.