Choruses with orchestral accompaniment

It was Friedrich Eckstein who gave Wolf the idea for Christnacht by suggesting that he might compose a work in the same festively sacred mood as Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium. Wolf found his inspiration in the simple nativity plays traditionally mounted in rural Styria in which he himself had sung as a child.

This work was very likely composed in connection with plans for an opera based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The highly successful first performances of Elfenlied and Der Feuerreiter in Berlin on 8 January 1894 contributed decisively to the rise in Wolf's popularity.

Wolf originally wanted to dedicate the work to the German Kaiser, but his application for permission was turned down by the German Embassy in Vienna. Wolf on 13 May 1890 to Melanie Köchert: 'It is a mystery even to me how I contrive to write music in this valiant-unto-death patriotic vein.'

Morgenhymnus is an arrangement for chorus of 'Morgenstimmung' for voice and piano.

Wolf began his second opera Manuel Venegas by drafting the 'Spring Chorus' on 29 July 1897; the missing orchestration has been filled in by Ferdinand Langer.