Joseph Marx’s distinctive style is characterised in these songs by dazzling, colourful harmonies and a remarkable melodic richness that, coupled with his sensitive setting of the texts, results in some of the composer’s finest works for voice and orchestra. Recurring themes of love and longing are encapsulated in one of Marx’s earliest songs, Hat dich die Liebe berührt [track 1], and moods of cheerful serenity, profound earnestness and amusing operetta-like lightness are all explored elsewhere. This programme of premiere recordings includes the cycle Verklärtes Jahr, a high point in Marx’s vocal oeuvre, and the intoxicating expression of his love for Italy in Auf der Campagna [track 22].