"Gypsy Songs", Op. 103

"Gypsy songs" (Zigeunerlieder) are present in various opuses by Brahms. Four of them for vocal quartet and piano are featured in Op. 112 Nos. 3-6 (1888-1891), based on Hungarian folk texts translated into German by Hugo Conrath. The cycle At Night, Op. 112 also contains the vocal quartets Sehnsucht and Nächtns, based on texts by Franz Theodor Kugler, which are distinguished by their character as love lyrics. Another part of the Zigeunerlieder is included in Оpus 103. Brahms composed versions for voice and piano of some of them. The composer's interest in these texts was sparked by his stay in Budapest in the winter of 1887-1988. The texts are Hungarian in origin, and continue the musical line of his Hungarian Dances and Love Waltzes. They thus combine the love lyric and characteristics of traditional music. The title 'Gypsy music' is attractive rather than substantive, since the character and origin of the texts is Hungarian.