Wolf composed the first volume of the Italienisches Liederbuch (Italian Songbook) between September 25, 1890, and December 23, 1891, writing more than half the songs in December after many months of inactivity. Those of Volume II appeared between March 25 and August 1, 1896. The composer culled the poems of both volumes from a collection of anonymous Italian verse in German translation by Paul Heyse, the translator of many of the songs in Wolf's Spanisches Liederbuch. The Italienisches Liederbuch is Wolf's most unified and integrated collection. This may be due, in part, to the anonymity of the poets, eliminating the need for the composer to confront a particular poetic personality. Also, all of the songs, to one degree or another, are love songs; aside from "Gesegnet sei, durch den die Welt entstund," none is religious. The consistently compressed nature of the verses promoted concise settings, in which Wolf's oscillation between orchestral, Wagnerian arrangements and Schumannesque intimacy has boiled down to a uniform style.

The 22 lieder of Volume I were published in Mainz in 1892. "Mir ward gesagt, du reisest in die Ferne" (I was told you were leaving), the first lied Wolf composed for the Italienisches Liederbuch, is about the unhappy parting of lovers. Wolf shows the disparity between the desires of the two people in the contrast between the rising phrases of the voice part and the descending bass line in the piano, mediated by almost constant chords in the right hand. The opposing movement creates a "duet" of sorts with a Wagnerian, chromatic course that, in its frequent dissonance, expresses the pain of the poem's subject. In "Gesegnet sei, durch den die Welt entstund" (Praised be the one through whom the world arose), one of his most sparse creations, Wolf emphasizes the climax by arriving at a sudden pianissimo when the narrator mentions "die Schönheit und dein Angesicht" (Beauty and your face). "Du denkst mit einem Fädchen mich zu fangen" (You think you can catch me with a little thread) is a diminutive song of 17 measures in which the nearly autonomous piano part provides a rhythmic and melodic counterpoint to the almost spoken voice part.

Despite the four-year hiatus between Volume I and the 24 lieder of Volume II, Wolf was able to resume composing in the lyrical manner. "Nicht länger kann ich singen" (I can no longer sing) and "Schweig' einmal still" (Be still) are musically linked. Both are in A minor and both employ the same melodic intervals. In the distressing "Nicht länger," Wolf conveys the anguish of the protagonist by creating a setting that seems detached from the poem. Quite the opposite, "Schweig' einmal still" clearly illustrates the awful voice of the serenader by imitating donkey sounds. Other illustrative moments occur in "Ich liess mir sagen" (I must say) and, especially, "Mein Liebster hat zu Tische mich geladen" (My beloved invited me to dinner), in which the chopping of the very stale bread is clear in the accents of the accompaniment.

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8.Nun lass uns Frieden schließen

The seventh song in order of composition and the eighth song in order of performance, Wolf's Nun lass uns Frieden schliessen (Let Us Make Peace) from his settings of Paul Heyse compiled in the Italienisches Liederbuch (Italian Songbook) of 1890 is a song that could be sung by either sex because the subject is common to lovers of both sexes: making up after a fight. With soft and supple triplets in common time moving in gentle tempo at a quiet dynamic in the accompaniment, Nun lass uns Frieden schliessen is a song sung in the bedroom with its warm and rounded melody tenderly cajoling the still-angry lover back into bed. In two strophes over in less than a minute-and-a-half, Wolf's song has accomplished its goal and the lovers are kissing again.

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