Hymnus Amoris is the earliest of Carl Nielsen's choral works. Before setting about its composition, the young composer submerged himself in the study of the music of Palestrina, Bach and Handel, performing more than 200 exercises in counterpoint in preparation.

Nielsen was convinced that the text should be in Latin, which he felt lent itself more readily to repetitive utterances than did Danish; he also expressed the belief that a Danish text would give this work a more personal, familiar air than he wished to give it. Latin, he felt, would add to the somber, austere tone that he wanted to impart to the piece, which was to explore the distinctive forms taken by love through each stage of a man's life.

The text was written by Danish historian and poet Axel Olrik and was duly translated into Latin by J. Heilberg. Delighted with the sparseness of the result, Nielsen set about writing the work, following the four sections of the text: Childhood, Youth, Manhood, and Old Age. Part 1, "Childhood," is sung by children and women's choruses and concerns the love between mothers and their children. This aspect of love is developed and transformed in Part 2, "Youth," performed by the chorus and soprano and tenor solo voices. The more painful form of love, its trials and ordeals in adult life, is then explored in Part 3, "Manhood," in which a male chorus is juxtaposed with a plaintive soprano solo voice, labeled in the text as "an unhappy woman." Finally, in Part 4, "Old Age," solo tenor, baritone and bass voices and eventually the entire chorus present love as a quality of peace and acceptance, to be found not only in the waning days of life but also in the afterlife.

Hymnus Amoris was recognized upon its premiere performance as an important work by the young composer. It is characterized by the simplicity and balance of intervals toward which Nielsen was to strive throughout his life as a composer.

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