One of my favorite pieces from the song cycle “The Winter Journey” (Die Winterreise), by the German composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828) is “Der Leiermann” (“The Hurdy-Gurdy Man”). Schubert used a series of poems by Wilhelm Müller (1794-1827) to create this gloomy cycle, which follows a wanderer’s path from unrequested love to isolation and perhaps death. Der Leiermann is the last song from the cycle, and the images of the poor, old, and lonely organ player against the hypnotic and repetitive piano is staggering.