Apart from his dramatic musical works, Hans Pfitzner's songs form the most homogenous and cohesive part of his oeuvre. The 106 songs constitute a significant contribution to the history of song and particularly to the genre of the art song in the 20th century. As a song composer, Pfitzner is a worthy successor to Schumann, with regard to the interplay of word and music. The palette of his songs ranges from 'simple' folk songs with Impressionist texts, to songs developed in a symphonic way. The poems selected by Pfitzner cover a period of more than 700 years of literary history. Like Vol. 1 (Op. 1-18), Vol. 2 (Op. 19-41) also conveys the wealth of themes, forms and textures in the song oeuvre of Pfitzner.