ABSTRACT
On 7 January 1899, almost three years to the day before her engagement to Gustav Mahler, whom she had not yet met in person, Alma Schindler noted in her diary that she had set to music Heinrich Heine’s poem ‘Ich wandle unter Blumen’. The Lied came into being during a phase of the 19-year-old’s life when she felt emotionally torn and unhappy and was seeking escape through the act of composing. In those January days her ardent wish to create music of high quality inspired her to tackle a number of Heine settings that reflected her mood.4 ‘Ich wandle unter Blumen’ was performed on several occasions among circles of family and friends and apparently belongs to the group of works which prompted plans for a public performance by a ‘geschulte Stimme’ (trained voice).5 However, the song remained in manuscript until 1910, when it was published in Vienna,6 where it received its official first performance on 11 December 1910 by Thea Drill-Orrigde and Alexander Zemlinsky.7
