Lieder << LEE duhr >> is the German word for songs. The term refers particularly to art songs written by German composers from the late 1700’s to the early 1900’s. Franz Schubert was probably the most important composer of lieder. Others included Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Hugo Wolf, Richard Strauss, and Gustav Mahler. Most lieder were written for voice and piano accompaniment. Most express a love of nature and the simple things of life and were composed to words of German Romantic poets, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Heinrich Heine.
