'To Diotima'' - this addendum to the title was preserved until shortly before publication of the piano ''songs'' and mystified Schumann's contemporaries. ''The Goddess to whom they are addressed has caused me quite a headache'' wrote Joseph Joachim, and even Brahms was not able to identify her. The composer was referring to a novel by H÷lderlin, although this work was apparently no longer generally very well-known in Schumann's day. ''Quite original pieces, there is a very particular atmosphere in them'' - thus Clara passed judgement. In our revised edition Ernst Herttrich provides a detailed illumination of the background to this unusual work.?