Upon his return from studying in Leipzig under Max Reger, the Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957) embarked upon a series of works that display not least his uncertainty in dealing with large-scale forms. His ambition was to write an opera, and he was at this time offered a number of potential libretti by Hermann Hesse and Hans Reinhart. But he turned them all down. His ballad Der Postillon of 1909, for tenor solo, male chorus and chamber orchestra, can be seen as a compromise work: one that allowed Schoeck to exploit his already well-developed song-writing gifts, while at the same time moving tentatively into the realm of the dramatic.