This is another of the many collections of songs that Liszt transcribed from voice and piano to solo piano. Only twelve of Schubert's songs from his great song cycle are here, and Liszt rearranged these in his own order, with a different harmonic and dramatic logic than Schubert's. Liszt's order is as follows: "Gute Nacht" ("Good Night"); "Die Nebensonnen" ("The Rival Suns"), transposed to B flat from the original A; "Mut" ("Courage"), transposed to G minor from the original A minor; "Die Post" ("The Postal Wagon"); "Erstarrung" ("Numbness"); "Wasserflut" ("Flood of Tears"); "Der Lindenbaum" ("The Linden Tree"); "Der Leiermann" ("The Organ-grinder") which Liszt combined with Täuschung" ("Deceit") to form a continuous two-part song; "Das Wirtshaus" ("The Tavern"); and "Der stürmische Morgen" ("The Stormy Morning") which Liszt combined with "Im Dorfe" ("In the Village") plus a reprise of "Der stürmische Morgen" to form a three-part song (ABA).

Liszt's transcriptions use Schubert's melody, form and accompaniment figures as a basis, with the vocal line woven into the piano texture. However, from this starting point he frequently doubled and harmonized the original vocal part, to bring out the main melodic line, and complicated, as well as expanded, the accompaniment. In some of the songs, particularly the more dramatic ones, Liszt even provides additional accompaniment figures and cadenza-like passages in an attempt to compensate for the missing words. As a result, there is a wide variety in the degree of Liszt's intervention, from direct and literal transcription to something approaching paraphrase. In most cases, though, the mood of the original is retained, even if expanded, even in the songs that take on a virtuosic character as a result of Liszt's expansion.

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