This paper deals with the position control of a hydraulic servo-drive for translatory motion. The application of a nonlinear composite feedback control based on singular perturbation methods \QCITE{cite}{}{Kokotovic86} is described. A comparision with linear output and state feedback shows the benefits of nonlinear control. The nonlinear design uses feedback linearization for the reduced system and simple proportional feedback for the control of the pressure difference (fast system). The feedback linearization results in a standard second order behavior of the reduced system with cutoff frequency and damping as decoupled design parameters. The proposed method is especially suitable for oscillation drives. Experimental results are given for step responses and sine tracking.