Ex. 14-8: Auftrag

Cornelius composed this song in 1862, when he was 37. It is the last of six songs published in 1865 as 6 Lieder (Six Songs), Op. 5.

The poem is by Ludwig Hölty (1748–1776), a German poet. He wrote it in 1776, the year he died of tuberculosis at the age of 27. In the poem a man asks his friends to hang his small harp behind the church altar after he dies. On that wall hang the funeral wreaths of girls who have died.

Cornelius lived in Weimar from 1852 to 1858, where he worked with Liszt. In 1858 his comic opera Der Barbier von Bagdad (The Barber of Baghdad) had its first performance there, with Liszt conducting. The theatre director, Franz Dingelstedt, was in conflict with Liszt, and he organized a hostile demonstration in the audience. Liszt resigned his post, and both men left Weimar.

Cornelius wrote these songs a few years later. By then he was living in Vienna, where he had moved in 1859. There he became a friend of Wagner and joined his circle, copying music for him.

From the album Cornelius: Complete Lieder, Vol. 2 by Christina Landshamer and Matthias Veit (2013)
Spotify