Frauenlob's Song of Songs: A Medieval German Poet and His Masterpiece

266 Pages·2007·1.79 MB·English

by  Barbara Newman

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frauenlob’s song of songs
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A MEDIEVAL GERMAN POET AND HIS MASTERPIECE
Frauenlob’s
s o n g o f s o n g s
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B A R B A R A N E W M A N
with thecritical text of karl stackmann
and a musical performance on cd
by theensemble sequentia
directed bybarbara thornton and benjamin bagby
The Pennsylvania State University Press
University Park, Pennsylvania
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Disclaimer:
Some images in the original version of this book are not
available for inclusion in the eBook.
Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Frauenlob, d.1318.
[Marienleich. English& German (Middle High German)]
Frauenlob’s Song of songs : a medieval German poet and his masterpiece/ Barbara
Newman ; with the critical text of Karl Stackmann ; and a musical performance on CD
by the Ensemble Sequentia directed by Barbara Thornton and Benjamin Bagby.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-271-02925-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Frauenlob, d.1318. Marienleich.
2. Frauenlob, d.1318—Criticism and interpretation.
3. German poetry—Middle High German, 1050–1500—
History and criticism.
I.Newman, Barbara.
II.Stackmann, Karl.
III.Title.
PT1519.F7A66 2006
831'.22—dc22
2006016920
Copyright ©2006
The Pennsylvania State University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park, PA 16802-1003
The Pennsylvania State University Press
is a member of the Association of American University Presses.
It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper.
This book is printed on paper containing 50% post-consumer waste,
and meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Material, ANSI Z39.48–1992.
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contents
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List of Illustrations vii
Preface ix
About the Text, the Translation, and the Recording xv
Marienleich / Frauenlob’s Song of Songs: Text and Translation 1
1 The Performer, His Public, and His Peers 43
2 Frauenlob’s Canon 63
3 The Marienleich in Context 91
4 The Marienleich as a Work of Art 123
5 Reception and Influence 139
Commentary on the Marienleich 175
Glossary of Technical Terms 219
Abbreviations 221
Bibliography 223
Index of MarienleichCitations 233
Index of Biblical Citations 235
General Index 237
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list of illustrations
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1.Frauenlob directs his “singing school” (Manesse Codex, fol.399r). Photo: Heidelberg,
Universitätsbibliothek 45
2.Frauenlob debates with Regenbogen (Manesse Codex, fol.381r). Photo: Heidelberg,
Universitätsbibliothek 47
3.Initial “E” with drawing of Virgin and seer (Manesse Codex, fol.399v). Photo: Heidelberg,
Universitätsbibliothek 142
4.Music from the Marienleich, strophe 14 (Vienna leich manuscript). Photo: A.N.L., picture
archives, Vienna 144
5.“Marian quaternity,” retable ascribed to Heinrich Helmschrott (Church of St.Nicholas,
Eggenfelden, Bavaria, ca.1480). Photo: Richard Kieckhefer 166
6.Double nature of Mary: The Madonna and the Eternal Virgin (Matthias Grünewald, Isen-
heim Altarpiece, Colmar; ca.1515). Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY 168
7.Frauenlob’s tombstone (Mainz Cathedral cloister, 1783). Photo: Richard Kieckhefer 171
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in memoriam
Barbara Thornton
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preface
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The poet Frauenlob, whose stage name means either “praise of ladies” or “praise of Our Lady,”
was born between 1250 and 1260 in Meissen, Saxony, near the Bohemian border, and died in
Mainz on November 29, 1318.1 Manuscripts refer to him as Heinrich von Meissen, after his
birthplace, or, more often, Meister Heinrich Vrouwenlop, after his art. From the mid-1270s
until his death, Frauenlob pursued the life of a traveling minstrel, composing and performing
topical poems, religious verse, and the occasional love song at the courts of noble patrons rang-
ing from the kings of Bohemia and Denmark to the archbishops of Bremen and Mainz. Admired
equally for his gifts as musician and poet, he became the acknowledged master of the geblümter
Stil, or “flowery style.” By the time of his death, he was a highly acclaimed and much imitated
though controversial figure whose talents and connections merited the privilege of burial in
Mainz Cathedral. The poet’s star remained in the ascendant for three centuries afterward: the
meistersingers regarded Frauenlob as the greatest of the twelve old masters they revered as pre-
cursors, even claiming that he had founded the first singing school in Mainz. In their own
schools, aspiring poets continued to compose new lyrics for his melodies and rhyme schemes up
to the eighteenth century.
Thereafter, Frauenlob’s fame suffered a swift and near-total eclipse. Although a few of the
Romantics appreciated him, most critics had little use for his hermetic and immensely learned
poems, which in their view savored too much of the intellect and too little of the heart. Protes-
tants tended to find his fervent Marian piety blasphemous, and rationalist scholars even ques-
tioned his sanity. Despite the publication of Frauenlob’s collected works by Ludwig Ettmüller
in 1843,2the poet attracted virtually no further attention until 1913, when Ludwig Pfannmüller
1. For a general introduction, see Karl Stackmann, “Frauen- 2. Frauenlob (Heinrich von Meissen), Heinrichs von Meissen
lob,” Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters: Verfasserlexikon,2nd ed. des Frauenlobes Leiche, Sprüche, Streitgedichte und Lieder,ed. Lud-
(Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1980), 2:865–77. wig Ettmüller (Leipzig: G.Basse, 1843).