"An Sylvia" was composed during a peak in Schubert's career around the time he was writing the Ninth Symphony "Great" (D 944), two years before his death.
Although considered to be myth, it is said that Schubert first came up with the idea to write "An Sylvia" as he was walking in Vienna and entered a beer garden with friends.
"[1] His friend drew staves on the back of a menu, and, as it came to his head, Schubert spontaneously wrote melodies to the words he was reading in the play.
The poem introduces Sylvia who is characterized as a beautiful, fair, and innocent woman admired by her suitors.
Reiz labt wie milde Kindheit; ihrem Aug' eilt Amor zu, dort heilt er seine Blindheit, |: und verweilt in süßer Ruh'.
Jeden Reiz besiegt sie lang, den Erde kann gewähren: |: Kränze ihr und Saitenklang!
Peter Low's Translating Song: Lyrics and Texts argues that this is not simply a mistranslation as is often stated, but an intelligent trade-off by Bauernfeld to preserve the rhyme at the expense of the meaning; he notes that it is not incompatible with the sense since "Sylvia is presumably young, innocent and good".
)[6] Schubert dedicated "An Sylvia" to one of his donors, Marie Pachler, a successful woman, talented pianist and composer from Graz who knew Beethoven personally and enjoyed bringing musicians over to her house for entertainment.