If five of Schubert's six settings of the poetry of Johann Jacobi from August 1816 form a cycle of sorts, "In der Mitternacht" (At Midnight) (D. 464) is its heart. The first two songs, "An Cholen" (D. 462) and "Hochzeitlied" (D. 463), traced a love affair from courtship through marriage but "In der Mitternacht" leads the listener to believe that the first two songs were a mistake, that marriage has not brought fulfillment or that, perhaps, Chloe did not marry the right man. Schubert's strophic setting starts in a slow and inward C minor but ends in softly comforting C major.

Although not on the same level of inspiration as Schubert's greatest Jacobi setting, "Litanei auf das Fest aller Seelen" (D. 343), "In der Mitternacht" is the best of Schubert's other Jacobi songs.

© All Music Guide