Felix Draeseke: Sämtliche Lieder in drei Bänden

Draeseke’s songs, which singers and their partners have repeatedly asked for over many years, are finally available in a new, correct and practice-oriented edition.

While Felix Draeseke’s (1835-1913) symphonic oeuvre, his chamber music and his choral works have become more and more widely known, his lieder remain virtually unnoticed. This is probably mainly due to the fact that some of them are difficult to access and are not always available in error-free prints.

We would be very pleased if the many months in which we have become increasingly familiar with Draeseke’s sometimes difficult-to-read musical notation would help to give the song composer Draeseke the recognition he deserves. The quality of Draeseke’s songs varies, as with every important composer, such as Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and many others, even Schubert. However, many of them are not only musically impressive, e.g. op.19, “Ritter Olaf”, but also significant in terms of music history and ahead of their time, e.g. “Das verlassene Mägdlein” from 1861 (!) – Hugo Wolf was born in 1860!

We are very grateful to Höflich-Verlag for their willingness to publish Draeseke’s complete songs in a critically revised new edition (based on the manuscripts, as far as available).

Prof. Wolfgang Müller-Steinbach, 2025
(editor of volumes 1 and 2)