The lyrics for the Liebeslieder come from Georg Friedrich Daumer's Polydora, a collection of folk songs and love poems.

While there is no concrete record indicating the exact inspiration for the Waltzes, there is speculation that Brahms' motivation for the songs was his frustrated love for pianist and composer Clara Schumann.

[3] In other words, composers feel a more urgent need to create original work that equals the merit of those of the preceding tradition.

First, Brahms sought to have his waltzes performed in informal musical evening settings similar to those intended for Schubert's dances.

[4] Also, a specific request by Brahms to have each of his movements copied onto a separate sheet of paper demonstrates, to an extent, his uncertainty of how to order such seemingly unrelated pieces.

[4] Brahms's experience in editing Schubert's Twenty Ländler is important in understanding the ideas of influence relevant to 19th century composers.

This experience was merely editorial, as Brahms used his own "compositional and aesthetic preferences" to organize pieces that "Schubert never intended to be performed together" into a coherent order.

[3] In addition, this accomplishes the challenges of originality and creativity that composers faced from their talented predecessors, relieving Bloom's so-called "anxiety of influence".

[3] Overall, external influence from the Twenty Ländler not only shaped the Liebeslieder Walzer from a compositional perspective, but also added a sense of depth, significance, and credibility to Brahms's repertoire.

[8] Brahms referred to the Liebeslieder as "pretty concert numbers" in a letter written to his publisher, Fritz Simrock, in 1870.

[9] The Liebeslieder Waltzes suit current day audiences because of the brevity of the movements along with the novelty of the work within Brahms' outpourings.

The Liebeslieder Waltzes are a collection of love songs written in a popular style that do not lose Brahms' compositional complexity.

Although today they are part of the standard choral repertoire, Brahms more likely intended them to be played in parlors or informal home gatherings rather than in concert halls.

[10] Immediately successful, these waltzes were responsible for much of his personal wealth, and solidified his reputation with the general music-buying public in Vienna and Europe.

[12] Brahms never strays too far from this familiar idiom, and the simple, easy to sing folk melodies allow his work to stay grounded as he adds more rhythmic complexity.

This very subtle alteration is seen most notably fifth waltz, where the second piano part begins on the anacrusis with two descending quarter notes.

[11] The quarter note-half note pattern that waltz 5 is built upon is commonly used by Brahms, usually to symbolize the loneliness of separation.

Brahms wrote the waltzes rather quickly in the summer of 1869 as an unordered set of dances, with little regard for their ultimate arrangement.

[12] The longer, more structured patterns give a sense of drama befitting a closing number, particularly (as in 6) when they end with a satisfying return to the home key.

[12] Conductor Ernst Rudorff convinced Brahms to create an arrangement of the waltzes for voice and small orchestra for a performance in 1870, although this version was not published until 1938.