Müller's poems were published in 1820, and Schubert set most of them to music between May and Septembr 1823, while he was also writing his opera Fierrabras. He was 26 years old at the time.
Schubert omitted several of the poems, such as a prologue and an epilogue delivered by the poet.
The work was published in 1824 under the title Die schöne Müllerin, ein Zyklus von Liedern, gedichtet von Wilhelm Müller, which means, "The Lovely Maid of the Mill, a song cycle to poems by Wilhelm Müller".