Die Vertonungen von Goethes Mignon-Lied 'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt'

This work analyzes and compares the various musical settings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Mignon song "Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt" from the novel "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship." It also sheds light on the relationship between the composers and the poet. The musical settings of the same text by composers Carl Friedrich Zelter, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert (who wrote the most famous version), Robert Schumann, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Hugo Wolf clearly illustrate the development of the genre 'song' from the Classical period to the Late Romantic era.