Mahler began to write the text of "Das klagende Lied" (possibly basing it on the fairy-tale of the same name by Ludwig Bechstein and/or "Der singende Knochen" ("The Singing Bone") by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm) during the early part of his final year in the Vienna Conservatory, where he was a student between 1875 and 1878. The draft text for the work is dated 18 March 1878, and composition of the music began in autumn of 1879 and was completed on 1 November 1880. The work is laid out on a very large and complex scale, requiring a large orchestra and taking 60–70 minutes to perform in full.