Italienisches Liederbuch – Italian songbook

Central to the trove of lieder Austrian composer Hugo Wolf (1860-1903) created in his relatively short life are nearly 200 composed from 1888 to 1892. These include a cycle of 20 lieder on texts by Joseph von Eichendorff, 53 lieder on texts by Eduard Mörike, 51 lieder on texts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the twopart Spanisches Liederbuch (44 lieder in all) and 22 lieder from part 1 of the Italienisches Liederbuch. After this, Wolf entered a four-year period marked by physical and psychological problems, which later grew more serious and ultimately fatal. Fortunately, he recovered, if only briefly, in 1896 and composed, among other things, the 24 lieder of the Italienisches Liederbuch’s part two. This was his last important composition, followed by only two lieder on texts by Lord Byron and three on texts by Michelangelo. The Michelangelo lieder, written in March 1897, were his last finished compositions. He made furious attempts that year to complete the opera Manuel Venegas, but without success. By the spring of 1898, his psychological condition had deteriorated to a degree that he was placed in an asylum. There he died on February 22, 1903.