Wilm was a prolific composer, already well known before he had completed his formal studies at the Leipzig Conservatoire. ‘Armer Mann’ (Poor Man) is drawn from a collection of 24 small pieces for instruction, including other appealing character pieces such as a ‘Little Wanderer’, a ‘Prayer at Night’ and even ‘Auf dem Steckenpferde’, after Schumann’s example in Kinderszenen.