The composition of Vier letzte Lieder took place between May and September 1948, a year before the death of the composer. The setting of Joseph von Eichendorff's 'Im Abendrot' was composed in May, while the remainder were written between July and September, settings of Hermann Hesse who had received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1946. 'September' was for many years thought to be Strauss's last music but the manuscript of 'Malven' came to light after the death of the soprano Maria Jeritza-Seery in July 1982. The posthumous première of these songs, to which the publisher gave the overall title, took place in London's Royal Albert Hall on 22 May 1950 with the Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad and the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler. It is to be regretted that no attempt was made to preserve this interpretation in the studio at the time, although an attempt was undertaken privately during the final rehearsal.

The pervading mood throughout the four songs is one of death and transience: a withering garden ('September'), the departure of summer ('Im Abendrot'), a soaring of a liberated spirit ('Beim Schlafengehn'), contrasted with concerns of blissful love in the present ('Frühling'). Strauss lavishes all his knowledge and skill in this final outpouring for the female voice, giving the singer a long autumnal cantilena throughout. 'Frühling' is an emotive desire for the return of spring but opens gloomily, although later there are light warming patches of C and A major in the third stanza. September is concerned with the splendour of the autumn garden to the words of 'Der Sommer schauert still seinem End entgegen' contrasted with the images of withering and decay 'Golden tropft Blatt um Blatt nieder vom hohen Akazienbaum'. Note the magical horn passage after the vocal part has finished (here hauntingly played by Dennis Brain: Strauss's father had been a celebrated horn-player in his day). 'Beim Schlafengehn' is the image of a man tired and weary, preparing himself for death. Strauss introduced a fourteen-bar intermezzo for solo violin (played here by Manoug Parikian), before leading into the final stanza 'Und die Seele, unbewacht, will in freien Flügen schweben'. Although marked Andante, the tempo in 'Im Abendrot' becomes continually slower, first by the numerous tempo changes between 4/4 and 3/2, then by Strauss's own explicit markings of 'still calmer', 'even slower' to the final cessation of all movement by the end.