Hyperion Records

The closeness between composer and poet had peaked by the time Reichardt composed songs from Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre; these were published as fold-out supplements in the four-volume set of the novel’s first edition (Unger, Berlin, 1795). The duet Sehnsucht (Goethe describes it in the novel as an irregular duet between Mignon and the Harper) is the fifth out of eight of these fold-outs and appears in Volume 2 of the novel. It is clear from a later printing that the composer envisages a harp accompaniment, also in keeping with the novel.

comparative Schubert listening:
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Sehnsucht“ First setting, first version, D310. 15 October 1815
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Sehnsucht“ First setting, second version, D310a. 15 October 1815
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Sehnsucht“ Second setting, D359. 1816
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Sehnsucht“ „Lied der Mignon“ Third setting, D481. September 1816
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Sehnsucht“ Fourth setting, D656. April 1819
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Mignon und der Harfner“ Fifth setting, No 1 of Gesänge aus „Wilhelm Meister“, D877
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Lied der Mignon“ Sixth setting, No 4 of Gesänge aus „Wilhelm Meister“, D877

from notes by Graham Johnson © 2006