In many ways Schubert's personality remains somewhat puzzling to scholars. He was obviously a talented musician, and a pianist of uncommon ability: his Wanderer Fantasy for piano solo, D. 760, for instance, is immensely difficult to perform and indicative of the composer's understanding of virtuoso piano writing. Yet, he himself was reluctant to play in public except in the role of accompanist to the well known singer of his day, Michael Vogl. When Schubert did play his instrument as a soloist, it was in the presence of a small group of his friends on Sunday afternoons. Here he would improvise dance music for the gathering, thus supplying the spark, if not the entire substance, for these Ländler (there are also other Ländler sets, including the Twelve Ländler, Op. 171 and the Sixteen Ländler and Two Ecossaises, D. 734), as well as for many of his waltzes and other dances.

Many may charge that these pieces are largely light fare, offering little of substance. Yet, it is known that Brahms was fond of them and divulged their influence in his Op. 39 Waltzes, notably in some of the modal-tinged harmonies, as found in Nos. 15 and 17 in the Schubert set, as well as in some of the earlier ones. It should be mentioned that No. 17 here is an arrangement of the first of the Four Ländler, for Piano, 4 hands, D. 814.

The first of the Seventeen Ländler establishes the general mood of the music throughout: it is lively and offers an attractive, colorful theme, in the end yielding danceable music that often begs for orchestration and dancers to a fill brightly-lit ball room. Middle or contrasting sections in some of the numbers turn a bit serious, almost ponderous even, but the mood always remains light throughout. While these short pieces taken together cannot be ranked as a major masterpiece, they are nonetheless finely-crafted light music of great appeal.

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