Hyperion Records

If Schubert was influenced by Kreutzer’s Wanderlieder, Op 34, in thinking about his own Winterreise, the influence was probably the other way round in the Müller songs from Kreutzer’s Ländliche Lieder, Op 80. Whether these were written before, or soon after, Schubert’s Winterreise is nevertheless not certain. The choice of poetry in the collection (which includes the same poem that opens Der Hirt auf dem Felsen) suggests that it was Kreutzer who was following a path already trodden by Schubert. If it is the other way round, Schubert owes to Kreutzer something as fundamental as his choice of E major for the tonality of Der Lindenbaum.

from notes by ©