Count Peter of Provence leaves home in search of the reputedly beautiful Magelone, daughter of the King of Naples.
The tale was expressed in print in French in 1453 (Pierre de Provence et la belle Maguelone) and in German in 1535 (Die Schön Magelona [sic]).
Furthermore sixteen of the eighteen poems were published separately as a lyric cycle, Des Jünglings Liebe (Of the Young Man’s Love).
Between 1861 and 1869 Johannes Brahms set to music fifteen of Tieck’s eighteen poems, scoring them for voice with piano accompaniment.
These were published as the composer’s Opus 33 in five volumes of three songs each in 1865 and 1869: Romanzen aus L. Tieck’s Magelone für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte [sic].