George Gordon Byron, known as Lord Byron, was a British poet of the Goethe period. His Hebrew Melodies, a collection of 23 poems, appeared in 1808, and their German translation by Franz Theremin appeared in 1820.

Byronʼs poems were popular as models for vocal texts in the 19th century, and were set to music by composers including Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Fanny Hensel. Inspired by them was also Joseph Joachim, who grew up in a Jewish household but converted in 1855 and was baptized a Christian Lutheran.

In the same year, his Hebrew Melodies op. 9 were published by Breitkopf & Härtel. They consist of three short character pieces for viola and piano. Although Joachim did not specify the poems he referred to in his pieces, the extra-musical idea is hard to miss.