Zemlinsky was born in Vienna in 1871, just three years before his lifelong friend and brother-in-law, Arnold Schoenberg. In fact, for a short while he taught Schoenberg and was his mentor. Unlike Schoenberg, Zemlinsky never abandoned tonality, remaining true to more traditional methods of composition. His music was, however, very much of it's time and he was a well-respected member of the Vienna circle. Zemlinsky never ventured much further than the late Romanticism of the early works of Schoenberg (Gurrelieder), Webern (Passacaglia, Op.1) and Berg (Seven Early Songs), and to all lovers of these works this set, and the music of Zemlinsky in general, will have an undeniable appeal.