Haydn’s aria "Ein’ Magd, ein’ Dienerin" (A maid, a servant) may have been composed between 1770 and 1775 for a Rorate Mass read silently during Advent in the chapel of the Castle of Eisenstadt. To honor the Mother of God Haydn fashioned a set of variations on a text by an unknown author, freely after biblical and liturgical models. This is a work of gracious character in praise of the Virgin Mary expressing joy in the time before Christmas.