Zwei Lieder

In ancient China there is a poet named Lo who lives in the emperors palace While the hardworking people long for peace and happiness Lo writes hymns in honor of the militant emperor who is perpetually hungry for conquest The monarch is pleased by the poets words but the people do not want to hear the hymns praising him anymore Lo is completely unaware of this and is surprised when the kitchen maid HsiHua refuses to sing his hymns With her help Lo learns what the people really want and is able to see how cruel the emperor is