meistersinger
Medieval German singer
A meistersinger was a member of German guilds of poet-musicians that flourished from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries.
These craftsmen—cobblers, tailors, metalworkers—composed and performed songs according to elaborate rules governing melody, meter, and subject matter.
The tradition is best known through Wagner's opera *Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg*.
German trial city
- guildProfessional mutual-aid society
- craftsmanSkilled manual worker
- burgherProsperous urban resident
- apprenticeLearner bound to employer
journeyman · cobbler · tradesman · artisan · medieval · Renaissance · German · civic
German Romantic opera composer
- operaTheatrical art combining song
- EvaName meaning living one
- overtureIntroductory orchestral piece
- leitmotifRecurring thematic phrase
Walther · libretto · baritone · tenor · soprano · quintet · finale · comedy
Quality of sound
- melodyPleasing sequence of notes
- verseMetered poetic passage
- stanzaPoem's line grouping
- rhymeMatching terminal sounds
meter · composition · performance · contest · prize · judging · errors · pedantry
Years 1301-1400
- fifteenth centuryYears 1401-1500
- sixteenth centuryYears 1501-1600
- AugsburgBavarian city, Roman-founded
- StrasbourgAlsatian regional capital
Colmar · Reformation · Luther · Protestant · chronicle · decline · documentation · manuscript
Nuremberg
German trial city
apprentice · journeyman · cobbler · tradesman · artisan · medieval · Renaissance · German · civic · bourgeois
Wagner
German Romantic opera composer
Walther · leitmotif · libretto · baritone · tenor · soprano · quintet · finale · comedy · prelude
tone
Quality of sound
rhyme · meter · composition · performance · contest · prize · judging · errors · pedantry · improvisation
fourteenth century
Years 1301-1400
- fifteenth centuryYears 1401-1500
- sixteenth centuryYears 1501-1600
- AugsburgBavarian city, Roman-founded
Strasbourg · Colmar · Reformation · Luther · Protestant · chronicle · decline · documentation · manuscript · archives