At the age of fourteen, Pavel Haas began systematic musical studies in Brno where he worked his whole life and had a decisive influence on the town's cultural scene. The first two songs from the present three Chinese Songs Op. 4 - 'Grief ' and 'At the River Io-Yeh' - date back to his time of study at the Conservatoire of Brno. In the same year, 1919, he also composed the third song 'Spring Rain', when he attended the composition class of Leos Janácek, as is evident from slight interventions of t...