The composition of a single melody is born out of a bit of text, perhaps the first line, but it can also be the entire strophe; it can even be the poem's overall form.

Recording an astonishing array of repertoire (spanning centuries) as musicologist Alan Blyth asserted "No singer in our time or probably any other has managed the range and versatility of repertory achieved by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. His recordings of Winterreise with accompanist Gerald Moore and Jörg Demus are still critically acclaimed half a century after their release.