In lied research, the 1830s are often referred to as the time of the "minor masters," as "Biedermeier in the Lied," or as the "valley between Schubert and Schumann". However, this is based on a teleological view of history: Schubert's songs were by no means considered model songs in the 1830s, and Schumann's first song publications did not appear until 1840/41. In addition, a series of sociocultural upheavals took place in the 1830s that represent a further development of early Romantic discourses around 1800 and are reflected in the song repertoire. Central to this is the notion of a Romantic counterworld, which appears in a variety of forms, such as the engagement with Heinrich Heine, Orientalism, the popularity of Romantic nature poetry, the growing number of Rhine songs, and songs that propagate intimate domesticity, such as cradle songs. However, the conceptions of the counterworld diverge on the musical and lyrical levels: while in poetry a growing skepticism about the accessibility of the counterworld is already evident, in music manifold compositional ways are found to connect the two worlds. On the basis of exemplary analyses, Maria Behrendt undertakes a reassessment of the Lied repertoire of the 1830s and in doing so also sheds light on the repertoire that Schumann received on the eve of his "Liederjahr" and that formed the breeding ground for his own Lied compositions. Complementing her study of the Lied of the 1830s, Maria Behrendt here presents an edition of compositions, many of which appear for the first time in modern editions. They were an essential part of the musical canon in the early 19th century, but today they are largely forgotten. Among the 47 songs are works by leading song composers in the 1830s such as Carl Gottlieb Reissiger, Carl Friedrich Curschmann, and Heinrich Marschner, as well as by female composers such as Johanna Kinkel, Josephine Lang, and Fanny Hensel, some with compositions unpublished during their lifetimes. They provide a multifaceted picture of the Romantic discourse of the 1830s: Thus we find Orientalist-influenced songs that seek a Romantic counterworld in the idealized Orient, Rhine songs motivated by national Romanticism, compositions based on nature poetry already perceived as anachronistic, lullabies that propagate intimate domesticity, but also settings of poems by Heinrich Heine in which the Romantic exaltation of the world is ironized. The material, now made accessible for research and musical practice for the first time, allows for a reassessment of the repertoire of the 1830s against the backdrop of the concept of Romanticism that contextualizes, expands, and corrects established knowledge of the song repertoire of the early 19th century. "Overall, the author has superbly succeeded in an account of the song history of the 1830s that is interesting to read and brings to light new aspects based on Romantic notions, mainly in the highly meritorious treatment of the wide range of unknown songs. The two volumes are definitely recommended for purchase in libraries, especially of music colleges and universities, so that the unknown repertoire can be performed." (Elisabeth Schmierer, Die Musikforschung 3/2022)