Haunting in its atmosphere is
Der Schildwache Nachtlied. Here it is a soldier on sentry-go who has to resist the blandishments of an alluring female. With increasing vehemence (and even military bravado) he proclaims his devotion to duty, but the allure of her voice continues to ring in his (and our) ears through the extraordinary harmonies and textures in which Mahler clothes the final bars of the song.
from notes by Roger Vignoles © 2008
