Paul Juon (1872-1940) composed the three Songs Op. 21 based on the Poems by Johannes Schlaf (1862-1941) in 1902. Five years later they were published with Robert Lienau Publ. Schlaf was a German playwright and storyteller and is considered as an important representative of German Naturalism, a literature movement, which was developed at the end of the 19th century and based on accurate Observation of nature.