The Rückert-Lieder, along with the Kindertotenlieder and the 5th Symphony, are considered to be a turning point in Mahler's oeuvre, and many elements of these songs would anticipate later works such as Das Lied von der Erde.

Over the following years his compositional output dwindled due to over-work and ill health; between 1897 and 1900, he only completed the Fourth Symphony and the Des Knaben Wunderhorn setting ‘Revelge’.

[1] Eventually Mahler suffered a near-fatal haemorrhage on the night of February 24, 1901, requiring emergency treatment, an operation, and a seven week long recuperation.

[4][6] The serenity of his surroundings, as well as the emotional aftereffects of the near-death experienced he had suffered earlier in 1901 (seen most in "Um Mitternacht")[7] exerted a considerable influence on the Rückert-Lieder, and they contributed to Mahler creating a new musical style which has been said to “[reveal] an artist who is already exploring another world”.

[1][8] The next year, after his courtship and marriage to Alma Schindler, Mahler composed another Rückert setting that was eventually added to the collection: "Liebst du um Schönheit".

Unlike the other four, this was solely intended as a private gift to Alma as a proof of his love for her, due to simmering tensions between her and Mahler at the time.

[12][11] Four of the Rückert-Lieder ("Liebst du um Schonheit" was not included in the programme) were premiered, alongside the five Kindertotenlieder, and six of the Wunderhorn settings, on 29 January 1905 in Vienna at the small Musikvereinsaal, now called the Brahmssaal.

[18] Due to demand, the final rehearsal (on 28 January, the day before the premiere) was open to the public, and the concert itself was completely sold out, with many being turned away at the door.

[19] Anton Webern, who attended the premiere, was more cool, writing in his diary that the Rückert-Lieder were "less satisfactory" and even "sentimental", but still containing a "beauty of vocal expression, which is sometimes of overwhelming inwardness", singling out "Ich atmet einen linden Duft" for praise.

He makes the accompaniment progress in the time-honoured manner, stepwise with the voice, but casts over the whole a glittering orchestral web, full of clever ideas and piquant effects.

[25] As for the Vereinigung, the long rehearsals for the concert had been costly, as it was necessary to pay overtime to the Philharmonic musicians,[23] on top of their already considerable fee to perform in the first place.

[31] The acclaim from the audience was apparently so spontaneous that the fellow composers in the hall, as well as those who regularly criticised Mahler, booed him off in envy.

[32] Again critics, even those who were biased against Mahler's work, praised this triumph,[33] with Ernst Decsey saying "Each song was incontestably a 'phenomenon' unto itself, because of the 'absolutely unprecedented [sonority] of his chamber orchestra.

"[32] On February 14, 1907, Mahler accompanied Johannes Messchaert at the piano[36] in a recital at the Bösendorfer Saal in Berlin,[37] consisting of five early Wunderhorn settings, the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, the Kindertotenlieder, and the same four Rückert-Lieder as at the collection's premiere.

[37] An unsigned article in the Vossiche Zeitung wrote that there had been a "sizeable audience", alluded to the Graz concert, and said the Rückert-Lieder were "certainly among the best songs that Mahler had composed".

[53] The turn to Rückert's poetry has been considered conservative on Mahler's part, given his connections with modernists such as Richard Strauss,[54] the musicians of the Vereinigung,[55] and the artists of the Vienna Secession,[56][57] as well as the novelty of his own music.

[58] In addition, Rückert has also been considered a "close spiritual relative" to Gustav Fechner, an Orientalist and psychophysicist who was greatly admired by Mahler.

[65]Instead, the collection, with its "brevity and intimate character ... represent[s] a short interlude of pure lyricism in [Mahler's] work,"[66] characterised by linear counterpoint[67] and heterophony.