Wagner, Die Meistersinger Prelude

We have had numerous occasions to discuss the “singers’ wars” in our courses and various other materials on this website. Richard Wagner built his opera Tannhäuser around this competition (Sängerkrieg) of the Minnesingers that occurred at the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach. The Minnesingers performed lyrical songs in the “courtly love” tradition and were essentially a German version of the French Troubadours that flourished in the 12th to 14th centuries.

The Meistersingers came later in 14th- to 16th-century Germany. They too were performing lyrical, unaccompanied songs. Meistersinger translates as “master singer,” but the term did not mean they were more accomplished than their Minnesinger ancestors. They were, by and large, master craftsmen in other fields who had created a guild of singers who created and performed following very strict rules.

The main character in Wagner’s comic opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Hans Sachs, was a real person—a master shoemaker (and master singer) in Nuremberg. The singing contest in the opera will determine who wins the right to marry the leading lady. She prefers an untrained knight who has to quickly master the rigorous rules of the art with help from Sachs.

Die Meistersinger is somewhat unusual among Wagner’s operas. It is his only mature comic opera, and it is based on real events rather than legends. The Prelude to the first Act is one of Wagner’s best known overtures.