The songs of Brahms span his entire, 60-year creative life, and contain many of his most personal utterances, as well as many of his most charming. From the jolly, openhearted, rustic charm of the Volkslieder to the cool refined beauty of the Sapphische Ode, Brahms's lyrical gift is everywhere evident, according to each song only the weight of expression that is appropriate to its temper. Countless babies have been rocked to sleep by the Wiegenlied, but they would quickly be woken again by the soul-searching despair of his last essays in the genre, the Four Serious Songs. Complete sets of this extensive part of Brahms's output are hard to come by -- there is but one other currently available -- and this is the only one recorded in entirely modern, digital technology. Many of the individual volumes feature some of the best young singers of their generation, guided by the experienced accompanimental hand of Helmut Deutsch. Further information - Bonus CD-ROM contains complete sung texts