This song is the seed from which a grander, yet similar, setting grew eight years later. That song (D793) is better known than this simple strophic one which is completely neglected. The final section of Die Erwartung has something in common with the secrecy of this lovers' tryst, and their music on tiptoe. Admittedly the whole scope of Schiller's marvellous poem is not ideally served by an unmodified strophic setting, and here we perform only the first two verses. As simple as it is, the setting, particularly when sung with a heartfelt legato line, admirably conveys the ecstasy, but also the heart-stopping reticence, of young love.

from notes by Graham Johnson © 1988