The poet and translator Karl Julius Körner (not to be confused with the far greater figure Theodor Körner, Schubert’s poet and friend) was born in February 1793 in Saxony. He studied theology in Leipzig, as well as French, English and Italian. His expertise as a translator stood him in good stead for service in the decisive battle of the Napoleonic War (at least as far as Germany was concerned) in Leipzig in1813. He spent most of his working life in Schneeburg where he broadened his knowledge of languages and gave lessons, and he died there in 1873. Apart from his translations of Byron, Körner worked on Shakespeare (1838) as well as publishing his own Gedichte in 1822. As a local man and fellow Saxon he was natural choice for August Schumann when searching for contributors to the complete works of Byron in German translation.

from notes by Graham Johnson ©