The source of the words for this piece is a funeral ode by Schiller. The words hark back to classical Greek mythology (a common aspiration of much literary work in Schiller's day), and the particular theme of the poem is the transience of beauty and perfection. Despite this typically serious subject, Brahms writes some of his most glowing choral music -- the music is in the major almost throughout. The atmosphere of the music echoes the very sentiment of the lines described.

The opening is rather delicate and subdued, and features a lovely oboe solo. The chorus enters maintaining the restrained tone, but with beautiful sound. The German words of the first line feature many `s' sounds, and the effect as the various voices enter one by one is mesmerising (assuming of course that the choir is disciplined enough!). The rhapsodic feel is slightly interrupted when the second line begins in a slightly tauter style, but this dissolves again. A new section begins at the words "Aphrodite does not tend...", with tenors and bardic accompaniment on harp. But the music soon becomes restless with off-beat accents, and we come to the central (and only) climax of the work, in Brahms' `solid' style (compare the Gesang der Parzen). The brass are prominent with majestic chords. Then follows without a break the next section, starting with the words "but she rises from the sea", and the effect of some godlike figure emerging from beneath the waves is aptly conveyed in the music. The succeeding lines are sung to the most glorious part of the work, with sumptuous harmony and glowing tone.

Now we come to the final lines. The music naturally follows the downward contours one would expect from a reading of the poem -- the music relaxes and quietens as we reach the lines "...beauty must fade...perfection must die" the second time round (the words of this section have been repeated)
Now, the oboe returns with its opening theme, ushering in the final lines of the poem with the music used for the first lines, and the work closes with a sigh to the word "herrlich" (glorious).