(Born May 7, 1833, in Hamburg; died April 3, 1897, in Vienna)

Johannes Brahms composed these lieder twenty years apart and under very different circumstances. The two Op. 91 songs were composed to be played by Joseph and Amalie Joachim, who were Brahms's close friends. Joachim was one of the greatest and most important 19th century violin virtuosi and Amelie (née Schneeweiss) was talented mezzo-soprano; Brahms himself was an excellent pianist. It is possible that Brahms chose to write for viola (instead of violin) because the viola's timbre would better blend with Amalie's voice, or perhaps Brahms merely wanted to write for one of his own favorite stringed instruments.

Brahms composed the first of these two twenty years before the second and also under very different circumstances. He wrote the first in 1863 to celebrate the birth of the Joachims' son, (who was named after Brahms); and the second Brahms composed in 1884 in an effort to make possible a reconciliation between the couple, who were having severe marriage problems (brought about by Joachim's paranoid delusions about an affair he imagined his wife had had with Fritz August Simrock, Brahms' publisher). The songs were initially not intended for public performance but rather for the couple's private enjoyment. Brahms did not publish them until after their relationship had deteriorated.

The first lied of the set (which was actually the second one written, in 1884, at the height of the couple's domestic troubles, is a setting of Fredrich Rückert's "Gestillte Sehnsucht" ("Quieted Yearning") Adagio expressivo. For it, Brahms reworked the lullaby and composed a new song in which he gives the viola a recurring melody that captures the poem's spirit of longing and nostalgia; the central section, written in a minor tonality, contributes some urgency and turbulence, but the gentler mood returns to create a peaceful ending. Nevertheless, the song failed to repair the couple's discord.

Later, which Brahms testified on Amalie's side in the divorce proceedings that were brought by Joseph, the ruptured relationship grew to include Brahms as well. Brahms had infuriated Joseph with his testimony. Brahms published this lied and the second, "Geistliche Wiegenlied" in 1884 as Op. 91.

The second lied, "Geistliche Wiegenlied" ("Sacred Lullaby"), Andante con moto, a cradle song, is an adaptation of a traditional medieval German Christmas carol, "Josef, lieber Josef mein." It begins with the viola introducing the opening phrase of the carol's melody, after which the voice enters with a different melody with unexpected lyrics: they come from Lope de Vega's "Cantarcillo de la Virgen," another Mary/Jesus lullaby, "Song of the Virgin," as translated by Emmaniel von Geibel. As in the first lied, the middle section of the song becomes minor with an agitation that indicates pain and suffering; at the conclusion, peace returns, guaranteeing harm will not come to the baby while Mary watches over the child. In all likelihood, Brahms hoped that a performance of this lied by the two would help the couple reconcile.

The wind, present in both songs, is calming in "Gestillte Sehnsucht" but troubling in "Geistliches Wiegenlied," but it serves to connect the two lieder.