Womans Work in Music | Page 9

like the Troubadours, were amateurs, and aimed to keep
free from the taint of professionalism. Men of the highest rank were
proud to belong to this order of musicians, and emperors, princes, and
famous knights are found among them.
The love-songs of the Minnesingers, as already intimated, were less
fiery than those of the Troubadours. While the Provençal minstrel
allowed his homage to his chosen lady to proceed to extreme lengths,
his German brother paid a less excessive but far purer tribute to the
object of his affections. Very often, too, the German poets rose to a still
higher level, and sang praises of the ideal qualities of womanhood in
general. Thus the singers of Germany caused far less domestic discord
than those of France.
That there was still some unlicensed gallantry, however, can be seen
from the type of music known as "Wacht-Lieder," or watch-songs. In
these the amorous knight is represented as pleading with the watchman
of the castle for admission to his lady-love. Sometimes the song took
the form of a warning from the watchman, telling that daylight was
near and the knight must depart.
Besides giving the world a host of shorter songs, the period of the
Minnesingers brought forth some really great poets who were
successful in the larger forms. The author, or authors, of the famous

"Nibelungenlied" are unknown; but the work remains to us as the
greatest epic of Germany. Foremost in point of fame stands Wolfram
von Eschenbach, author of the familiar "Parzifal." In depicting his
characters, he strikes a note of idealistic beauty. Another great poet was
Gottfried of Strasburg, almost as famous as Wolfram, and in some
respects his opposite. His characters are endowed with life and vigour,
and eager to seize the pleasures of earth while they last. His best work
was "Tristan and Isolde."
The legend of Tannhäuser, which has crystallized and been handed
down to us in story, has an undoubted basis of fact. The existence of
the cave of Venus, in the Thuringian hill of Hörselburg, may be taken
as not proven; but there certainly was a tournament of song at the castle
of the Wartburg, and many famous knights probably took part in it.
Whether Tannhäuser himself was real is an open question; but there can
be no doubt about Walther von der Vogelweide, who was one of
Germany's greatest masters in the shorter forms.
Examples of still another style in the work of the Minnesingers are
almost surely a direct imitation of the work of the Trouvères of
Northern France. These examples consist of more or less lengthy fables,
or sometimes tales with a pleasing moral attached. Many stories of
Roman history are found among these, and many of the proverbs which
we use without thinking of their authorship date from this time. Among
the latter are, "Set not the wolf to guard the sheep," "Never borrow
trouble,"
"The king must die, And so must I,"
and many other such gems of wisdom.
In all this the women had some share, if they did not play so important
part as their sisters in France. Their position as hostesses, or as the
objects of poetical tribute, enabled them to comment and criticize, and,
if they did little actual composing, they were allowed to take a
prominent part in the performance of music. We find in the old books
of rules and codes of education that the woman of rank and position
was possessed of many accomplishments, if not exactly those that are

expected to-day. One of these codes, or Essenhamens, as they were
called, gives the four chief duties of women, and, making allowance for
the change in civilization, they correspond fairly well with those
already quoted from the present German Empress. The cooking and
sewing remain the same, but, instead of amusing the children, the
women were expected to care for children of a larger growth, by
obtaining a knowledge of surgery. The chatelaine was supposed to take
full charge of her lord if he returned wounded from tourney or battle.
Instead of church matters, the final accomplishment was the secular
game of chess.
Another work of the time gives rules of behaviour for women,
inculcating a submissive demeanour that is hardly practised to-day. The
usual modesty of deportment was prescribed; women were always to
direct their glances discreetly downward, and in the case of a stranger
were to speak only when addressed. If a room were full of women, and
a man should suddenly enter, the rules of decorum compelled them to
rise immediately, and remain standing until he should seat himself.
The extent of knightly devotion to women in the age of chivalry can
hardly be exaggerated. The work of Ulrich von Lichtenstein, for
instance, in his "Frauendienst," is full of the most absurd