[2] Killmayer was first inspired by texts of French authors of the Renaissance, such as Charles d'Orléans,[3] Mal Mariée and Clément Marot (1953), and by poems of Federico García Lorca in German (1954), which he set for soprano, piano, ensemble or percussion.
[3] The cycle, composed in 1954, sets five poems by Federico García Lorca, translated by Enrique Beck, for soprano, piano and percussion:[5] The duration of the work is about 15 minutes.
The orchestral version was premiered in Munich on 3 February 1986 by Peter Schreier with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.
The piano version was first performed on 23 August 1989 as part of the festival Frankfurt Feste, by Christoph Prégardien and Siegfried Mauser.
[9] A second cycle, setting 18 poems from his late period with the same scoring tenor voice, with a total duration of about 45 minutes, was composed between 1982 and 1985.
The orchestral version was premiered at the Salzburg Festival on 14 August 1987 by Peter Schreier and the ORF-Symphonieorchester, conducted by Lothar Zagrosek.
A reviewer notes that Killmayer "demonstrates a real affinity with the Romantic poet"[23] and describes the arrangement as "highly attractive scores with their spare and finely wrought chamber accompaniments".
[24] He describes "moments of dissonance, and unusual textural dispositions", but generally focused "on simple chordal and melodic patterns, not to create an atmosphere of expressionistic anguish, but to suggest a calm, joyous acceptance of the inevitable".
[12] The cycle Trakl-Lieder was composed in 1993, setting eight poems by Trakl:[13] It was premiered in the Cologne Philharmonie [de] on 1 December 1998 by Christoph Prégardien and Siegfried Mauser.
It was recorded, with the Blasons anatomiques du corps féminin and the Mörike-Lieder, in 2012 on the occasion of the composer's 85th birthday by members of the Musikhochschule München.
Jahrhundert fast nur die stimmungshaften, lyrischen Gedichte vertont wurden, hatte erst das 20.
[16] The cycle Schweigen und Kindheit was composed in 1993 , setting six more poems by Trakl:[19] It was premiered in Munich on 3 December 1996 by Sebastian Leebmann and Siegfried Mauser.
[20] It was recorded, with the Blasons anatomiques du corps féminin and the Sappho-Lieder, in 2012 on the occasion of the composer's 85th birthday by members of the Musikhochschule München.