“In all my industriousness and creativity”, Sigfrid Karg-Elert wrote to publisher and friend Carl Simon in 1906, “I was devastated when both my song cycles op 52 + 53 by Challier were sent back. Now I feel glum and wretched again! If these two lieder are rejected then I will close shop and do not want to have anything to do with composing ever again!! It seems as if one has to be dead or insane first (see Cornelius, Brückler, Hugo Wolf), before one can gain a foothold.” The last sentence of this literary sigh has, at least in parts, come true.

Karg-Elert was recognised beyond the borders of his adopted place of residence, but was neither seen as a forerunner of musical development nor did he achieve far-reaching popularity. When his most important organ, harmonium and piano works were systematically “rediscovered” in the 1970s, his song creations were initially disregarded, despite the fact that with their 150-200 solo cantos they are not exactly thin, and formed a substantial part of Karg-Elert’s composing work from 1904 to 1908.

How much heart and soul he put into these works is revealed by his statement quoted above. They burst with ideas, surprising turns, often seem spontaneously improvised by sticking to the textual details instead of a constant basic mood.