World Premiere Recording

Vatroslav Lisinsk 1819-1854

Deutsche Lieder / German Songs

In his 35 years of life, Lisinski left an unexpectedly large body of work for someone who began pursuing music relatively late. Among the 160 preserved compositions, in addition to operas and orchestral works, notable pieces include choral works, piano pieces (mazurkas and other dances), and art songs in Croatian, Czech, Slovakian, and German.

Unlike the Croatian songs, which he composed throughout most of his career, the German songs were written within a shorter time span. Most of his German art songs were composed in 1846, with only a smaller number being written between 1846 and 1851. Moreover, we would be hard-pressed to find a stylistic difference between Lisinski's Croatian and German art songs. It was only after Lisinski's death that musicologist Franjo Ksaver Kuhac undertook a thorough study of Croatian folk music, and his collection of songs significantly influenced later Croatian composers. Therefore, the musical language of both Lisinski's Croatian and German songs is similar or even identical: it is the musical expression of early Romanticism.