Minnesang
Minnesang was the tradition of lyric and
song writing in
Germany which flourished in the
12th century and continued into the
14th century. People who wrote and performed Minnesang are known as
Minnesingers (Minnesänger). The name derives from the word
minne,
Middle High German for
love which was their main subject, and an individual song was a
minneliet. The
Minnesänger were similar to the French
troubadours; they wrote love poetry in the
courtly love tradition in
Middle High German in the
High Middle Ages.
In the absence of reliable biographical information, there has been debate about the social status of the Minnesanger. Some clearly belonged to the higher
nobility - the 14th century
Codex Manesse includes songs by dukes, counts, kings, and the Emperor
Henry VI. Some Minnesänger, as indicated by the title
Meister ("master"), were clearly educated commoners, such as Meister
Konrad von Würzburg. It is thought that many were
ministeriales, that is, members of a class of lower nobility,
vassals of the great lords. Broadly speaking, the Minnesänger were writing and performing for their own social class at court, and should be thought of as courtiers rather than "professional" hired musicians. Friedrich von Husen, for example, was part of the entourage of
Friedrich Barbarossa, and died on crusade. As a reward for his service,
Walther von der Vogelweide was given a
fief by the Emperor
Frederick II.
Several of the best known Minnesingers are also noted for their epic poetry, among them
Henric van Veldeke,
Wolfram von Eschenbach and
Hartmann von Aue.
The earliest texts date from perhaps 1150, and the earliest named Minnesänger are
Der von Kürenberg and
Dietmar von Aist, clearly writing in a native German tradition in the 3rd quarter of the 12th century. This is refereed to as the Danubian tradition.
From around 1170 , German lyric poets came under the influence of the Provençal
troubadours and the Northern French
trouvères. This is most obvious in the adoption of the strophic form of the
canzone, at its most basic a seven-line stophe with the rhyme scheme ab|ab|cxc, and a musical AAB structure, but capable of many variations.
A number of songs from this period match trouvère originals exactly in form, indicating that the German text could have been sung to an originally French tune, which is especially likely where there are significant commonalities of content. Such songs are termed
contractures. For example,
Friedrich von Hausen's "Ich denke underwilen" is regarded as a contracture of
Guiot de Provins's "Ma joie premeraine".
By around 1190, the German poets began to break free of Franco-Provençal influence. This period is regarded as the period of
Classical Minnesang with
Albrecht von Johansdorf,
Heinrich von Morungen,
Reinmar von Hagenau developing new themes and forms, reaching its culmination in
Walther von der Vogelweide, regarded both in the Middle Ages and in the present day as the greatest of the Minnesänger.
The later Minnesang, from around 1230 is marked by a partial turning away from the refined ethos of classical minnesang and by increasingly elaborate formal developments. The most notable of these later Minnesänger,
Neidhart von Reuental introduces characters from lower social classes and often aims for humorous effects.
Only a small number of Minnelied melodies have survived to the present day, mainly in manuscripts dating from the
15th century or later, which may present the songs in a form other than the original one. Additionally, it is often rather difficult to interpret the
musical notation used to write them down. Although the contour of the
melody can usually be made out, the
rhythm of the song is frequently hard to fathom.
There are a number of recordings of Minnesang using the original melodies, as well as Rock groups such as
Ougenweide performing songs with modern instruments.
In the 15th century Minnesang developed into and gave way to the tradition of the
Meistersingers. The two traditions are quite different, however (Minnesingers were mainly aristocrats, while Meistersingers were merchants, for example).
At least two
operas have been written about the Minnesang tradition:
Richard Wagner's
Tannhäuser and
Richard Strauss'
Guntram.
Danubian Lyric
*
Dietmar von Aist*Der
Kürenberger*
Meinloh von SevelingenEarly Courtly Lyric
*
Friedrich von Hausen*
Kaiser Heinrich VI*
Heinrich von Veldeke or
Henric van VeldekeClassical Minnesang
*
Albrecht von Johansdorf*
Gottfried von Strassburg*
Hartmann von Aue (1170-)
*
Heinrich von Morungen*
Reinmar von Hagenau (- ca. 1210)
*
Walter von der Vogelweide*
Wolfram von EschenbachLater Minnesang: 13th Century
*
der Regenboge*
Friedrich von Sonnenburg*
Gottfried von Neifen*
Heinrich von Meissen (Frauenlob) (1250/1260-1318)
*
Hugo von Montfort*
Konrad von Würzburg (1220/1230-1287)
*
Neidhart von Reuental (1st half of the
13th century)
*
Otto von Botenlauben*
Reinmar von Zweter (1200-after 1247)
*Der
Tannhäuser*
Ulrich von Liechtenstein (ca. 1200-1275)
*
Walther von Klingen (1240-1286)
Later Minnesang: 14th Century
*
Johannes Hadlaub (End of 13th century - 1340)
*
Muskatblüt*
Oswald von WolkensteinThe following love poem, of unknown authorship, is found in a latin
codex of the 12th century from the
Tegernsee monastery.
Middle High German original
:Dû bist mîn ich bin dîn.:des solt dû gewis sîn.:dû bist beslozzen:in mînem herzen.:verlorn ist das sluzzelîn.:dû muost immêr darinne sîn!
Modern German
:Du bist mein! Ich bin dein.:Dessen sollst Du gewiss sein.:Du bist fest:In meinem Herzen.:Verloren ist das Schlüsselein.:Musst wohl für immer drinnen sein!
English
:You are mine, I am yours:Of that you may be sure:Deep within my heart:You're safely locked away:But I have lost the key:And there you'll ever stay
*
Des Minnesangs Frühling (University of Virginia, Electronic Text Center)
The standard collections are
*12th and early 13th Century Minnesang (up to Reinmar von Hagenau):
**H.Moser, H.Tervooren,
Des Minnesangs Frühling.
***Vol. I: Texts, 38th edn (Hirzel, 1988) ISBN 3777604488
***Vol II: Editorial Principles, Melodies, Manuscripts, Notes, 36th edn (Hirzel, 1977) ISBN 3777603317
***Vol III: Commentaries (Hirzel, 2000) ISBN 3777603686
*13th Century Minnesang after Walther von der Vogelweide:
**Carl v. Kraus, G.Kornrumpf,
Deutsche Liederdichter des 13. Jahrhunderts (Niemeyer 1978) ISBN 3484102845.
*14th and 15th centuries:
**Thomas Cramer,
Die kleineren Liederdichter des 14. und 15. Jhs., 4 Vols (Fink 1979-1985)
There are separate editions of Walther's works, and of a number of the most prolific Minnesänger. There are many published selections with Modern German translation.
*Olive Sayce,
The medieval German lyric, 1150-1300: the development of its themes and forms in their European context (Oxford University Press 1982) ISBN 019815772X
*Ronald J. Taylor,
The Art of the Minnesinger. Songs of the thirteenth century transribed and edited with textual and musical commentaries, 2 vols (University of Wales Press, 1968)
Medieval rock
