(German: Songs of Gurre) are a tripartite oratorio followed by a melodramatic epilogue for five vocal soloists, narrator, three choruses, and grand orchestra. The work, which is based on an early song cycle for soprano, tenor, and piano; was composed by the then-Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg (later Schoenberg) from 1900 to 1903, then following a break, resumed orchestration in 1910; and completed it in November of 1911. It sets to music the poem cycle Gurresange by the Danish novelist Jens Peter Jacobsen (translated from Danish to German by ). The Gurre Castle and its surrounding areas in Denmark are the settings of the plot, which involves the mediæval love-tragedy (related in Jacobsen's poems) revolving around a legend of the love of king Valdemar Atterdag (Valdemar IV, 1320–1375, German: Waldemar) for his mistress Tove, and her subsequent murder by Valdemar's jealous wife Queen Helvig of Schleswig (a legend which is historically more likely connected with his ancestor Valdemar I). It is generally considered the most important tonal work of the composer, alongside Verklärte Nacht. Composition In 1900, Schoenberg began composing the work as a song cycle for soprano, tenor, and piano for a competition run by the Wiener Tonkünstler-Verein (Vienna Composers' Association). It was written in a lush, late-romantic style heavily influenced by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. According to Schoenberg, however, he "finished them half a week too late for the contest, and this decided the fate of the work." Later that year, he radically expanded his original conception, composing links between the first nine songs as well as adding a prelude, the Wood Dove's Song, and the whole of Parts Two and Three. He worked on this version sporadically until around 1903, when he abandoned the mammoth task of orchestrating the work and moved on to other projects. By the time he returned to the piece in 1910, he had already written his first acknowledged atonal works, such as the Three Pieces for Piano, Op. 11, Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16 and Erwartung, Op. 17. He had also come under the spell of Gustav Mahler, whom he had met in 1903 and whose influence may be discernible in the orchestration of the latter parts of the Gurre-Lieder. Whereas Parts One and Two are clearly Wagnerian in conception and execution, Part Three features the pared-down orchestral textures and kaleidoscopic shifts between small groups of instruments favoured by Mahler in