Johannes Brahms

4 Gesänge op. 17

They are very easy to perform and pleasing, as I think, Johannes Brahms wrote to Breitkopf & Härtel in August 1860 to make the work palatable to the publisher. He had already sent his Hamburg women's choir the delicacy of the "Vier Gesänge mit Begleitung von 2 Hörnern und Harfe" in advance. He chose prominent texts, including poems by Shakespeare, Ossian and Eichendorff, and soon took Clara Schumann into his confidence - her copy of three of the four songs is the main source of the work today. However, what the composer had imagined as a suitable and attractive instrumental accompaniment with "horns and harp" was initially considered rather problematic by the publishers contacted. However, their reservations could not prevent the lasting success of the Vier Gesänge.