Born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Rudolf Leberl is one of the most undeservedly neglected of Bohemian composers. He wrote extensively for the guitar, drawing on a rich variety of influences—German Romanticism, folk music, nineteenth-century guitar traditions, and a love of poetry—to forge his own highly individual voice. His cycles are musical kaleidoscopes and include rustic dances, baroque evocations, Spanish elements and beautiful romances. The wide-ranging and highly characteristic 12 Stimmungsbilder (Mood Pictures) include some of his most engaging and virtuosic writing.