Die Huldigung der Künste (The Homage of the Arts) is a dramatic poem written by Friedrich Schiller.
Its final sentence, expressing Schiller's artistic credo, is Denn aus der Kräfte schön vereintem Streben / Erhebt sich, wirkend, erst das wahre Leben.
At the time of its composition, Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach had just married Maria Pavlovna, sister of tsar Alexander I of Russia.
Then working with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe at the Weimar court, Schiller was commissioned to write a short piece in honour of the couple and the occasion.
A farming family wants to hold a great festival in honour of their new queen in order to give her a fitting welcome.