Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty

Among his most familiar poems are: "Üb' immer Treu' und Redlichkeit" (1776), "Tanzt dem schönen Mai entgegen", and "Wer wollte sich mit Grillen plagen" (1776).

[1] To many, the opening lines of Hölty's poem "Der alte Landmann an seinen Sohn" ("The Old Farmer to His Son") are the very embodiment of all Prussian virtues.

This poem was set to music by Mozart to a melody adapted from the aria "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen" from his 1791 opera The Magic Flute.

"[3] Hölty's collection Gedichte (poems) was published by his friends Count Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg and J. H. Voss (Hamburg, 1783).

[1][4] Many of Hölty's poems were set to music by composers including Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn, and Brahms, and his verse 'Ihr Freunde, hänget, wann ich gestorben bin' is inscribed above the final movement of the Harp Sonata by Paul Hindemith.