The History of German Song
by Louis Charles Elson (9781458884565)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: III. FAMOUS MINNESINGERS AND THEIR WORKS. Wolfram of Eschenbach, living during the last half of the twelfth century and the beginning of the thirteenth, was, perhaps, the most remarkable of the band of poet musicians of his epoch. He was one of the participants in the remarkable contest of Minnesingers which took place at Wartburg, in 1207. He was youngest son of a Swiss nobleman, and was the beau ideal oi the school of wandering minstrel knights. Not only do his works survive him, but his contemporaries are full of praise of his nature and capabilities; yet he was not so accomplished a musician as some of them, and songs were by no means his strongest point. Historical romance, on the other hand, seems to have best fitted his muse; and the larger part of the Helden- buch, or book of heroes, is attributed to his pen. He was as bold as he was talented; and, in fact, all these early musical aristocrats were well skilled in feats of strength and arms. The following verse, from one of the oldest songs of Scandinavian origin (preceding even the time ofour Minnesingers), may show what accomplishments were held in esteem: ? " Eight things I know: 'at games to play; To carve with skill; in war to go; Through rising waves, I swim away; I ride with ease; the spear I throw; Across the ice, on skates, I glide; And I can row 'gainst any tide." Royalty was among the Minnesingers as it was among the Troubadours of France. The latter possessed Richard I., Alfonso X., and others; while the former enrolled Kaiser Heinrich, the son of Frederic Barbarossa, among their ranks. Ulrich of Lichtenstein not only leaves to us some good specimens of the minnesong, but in his life gives an odd example of the calm manner in which the Minnesinger dedicated himself to some particular...

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