Youens addresses the different aspects of the Winterreise: its cultural milieu, the genesis of both the poetry and the music, Schubert's transformation of poetic cycle into music, the philosophical dimension of the work, and its musical structure.
This is a guide to both the music and the poetry of Schubert's much loved song cycle which was composed in 1823 and is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of the repertoire.