This collection of 10 songs is the culmination of Mahler's many settings from Das Knaben Wunderhorn (The Young Boy's Magic Horn), a collection of German Folk Poetry. They are usually performed as a set, often also including the two later Wunderhorn songs, "Revelge" (Reveille) and "Der Tambourg'sell" (The Drummer Boy), since their poetic origin and performance requirements are so similar. There is no cyclical connection or sequence to the songs—they stand alone, each having its own unique affect, scoring, and conception. Representing Mahler's mature style, the songs cover a vast range of moods and topics, from grim and ironic tragedy to fairy tales. Unlike his Wunderhorn settings for voice with piano, these are truly symphonic in scope and technique, and the composer eventually expanded several of them into symphonic movements.

"Der schildwache Nachtlied" (The Sentry's Night-song). A sentry is killed on duty while he is distracted by dreams of his sweetheart. Mahler casts the story as a ghostly dialog between the sentry and his girl, alternating between military drums and fanfares and sustained melodic passages.

"Verlor'ne Müh" (Wasted Effort). A young girl unsuccessfully attempts to seduce a boy in this charming and witty dialog. It is set as a Ländler and often sung as a duet.

"Trost im Unglück" (Solace in Sorrow). Another humorous and lively dialog between two lovers, this one is more raucous and full of military orchestral effects. It is usually sung as a duet.

"Wer hat dies Liedlien erdacht?" (Who Made Up This Little Song?). This is yet another comic love song, with the protagonist pining away for his love. The shortest and simplest of these songs, it is a Ländler with a yodeling vocal line always doubled in the orchestra.

"Das irdische Leben" (Earthly Life). Here Mahler depicts a starving child who waits in vain for the grain to be harvested and milled. Cast as a chilling dialog between child and mother, the cruel inevitability of death is portrayed in the perpetual motion of the orchestra.

"Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt" (Antony of Padua's Sermon to the Fish). This is a parody on the unchanging nature of human behavior. Mahler here uses perpetual motion in the orchestra to illustrate the purposeless busyness of life.

"Rheinlegendchen" (Rhine Legend). Here is another charming Ländler, in this case telling a fairy-tale about a golden ring tossed into the Rhine.

"Lied des Verfolgten im Turm" (Song of the Prisoner in the Tower). A political prisoner sings of freedom, while his lover, outside the prison, mourns him in contrasting lyrical passages.

"Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen" (Where the Beautiful Trumpets are Blowing). Mahler again used contrasting materials in this touching song about a dead soldier's ghost visiting his beloved. Muted and hushed fanfares alternate with a gentle Ländler depicting the soldier and the girl, respectively.

"Lob des hohen Verstandes" (In Praise of Lofty Intellect). This is an absurd and comical song in which a donkey judges the singing of two birds. In spite of its humor, it is a biting satire of human self-importance.

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