is a massive
cantata for five vocal soloists, narrator, chorus and large orchestra, composed by
Arnold Schoenberg, on poems by the Danish novelist
Jens Peter Jacobsen (translated from Danish to German by Robert Franz Arnold). The title means
Songs of Gurre, referring to
Gurre Castle in Denmark, scene of the medieval love-tragedy (related in Jacobsen's poems) revolving around the Danish national legend of the love of the Danish king
Valdemar Atterdag (Valdemar IV, 1320–1375, spelt Waldemar by Schoenberg) for his mistress Tove, and her subsequent murder by Valdemar's jealous Queen Helvig (a legend which is historically more likely connected with his ancestor
Valdemar I).