This work was written in 1921, between "Die Frau ohne Schatten" and "Intermezzo". It is a splendid set that, in the words of Michael Kennedy, represent "Strauss at his most passionate and evocative". The melodies are arresting and lyrical, and the orchestration lush and exhilarating. One wonders what is the reason for its almost total neglect. Compared to the "Last Four Songs" its only 'sin' is that it is happy rather than elegiac. It consists of the setting of three poems by Hölderlin. The first, "Hymn to love" begins with a burst of joy:

Enchanted by the wonders offered to our eyes

we roam in green meadows;

our priesthood is joy

our temple is nature

and reaches its climax at the eleventh stanza:

…and the ecstatic Spirit escape

toward the stars…

The second, "Return to the homeland" begins celebrating softly the return to familiar places and people:

…and you, beloved river, with your poplars

All of you, sunny peaks, is it you I see again?

concluding in gloriously serene contemplation:

Farewell, my youthful days, rosy path of love

Farewell, and take my life to bless it,

Skies of my homeland, once more.

The third, "Love", opens in slightly less exalted mood:

If you forget your friends and despise your poets,

at least honor the souls of those who love

Near the ending there is an extended orchestral interlude before the voice sings the closing lines:

May the language of lovers be the language of the Land

and their soul, the soul of the Peoples!

© All Music Guide