Germany, the foremost of musical nations, owes her present supremacy not
only to the genius of her great masters, from Bach to Wagner, but also
in a large degree to the native impulse of her people, who for centuries
have been distinguished for their earnest love of music.
In the Middle Ages the Germans possessed in their folk-songs
(Volkslieder), Minnesongs and church chorals a rich fund of music,
inexpressibly dear to the people. These precious heirlooms have been
cherished and preserved, and their peculiar earnestness, purity of
style, and depth of sentiment have rendered them sources of lofty
inspirations to the great masters who have achieved for Germany her
world-wide fame in music. It is unfortunate that our knowledge of German
popular music in the Middle Ages is not as full and trustworthy as that
concerning the beginnings of contrapuntal art in the Netherlands,[22]
and the development of Catholic Church music. We have the best
inferential evidence that the sense of melody and rhythm existed in
definite form among the people earlier than in church music. This
evidence comes to us from an observation of the devices to which the
monks of St. Gallen resorted, in order to popularize the Gregorian song
in Germany. For, whereas the plain chant of Gregory seems never to have
been musically enjoyable to the Germans, certain _sequentiæ_ introduced
by these monks, notably by Notker, surnamed the Stammerer († 912),
became universally popular among the people. These “sequences” should
not be confounded with the so-called sequences defined in our modern
treatises on harmony. A sequentia was a hymn, with words in rhymed Latin
set to fitting music. Such sequentiæ were sung by trained choirs at
certain moments in the service, and the congregation joined in the
phrases like “Kyrie” and “Alleluia” which followed. “Veni Sancte
Spiritus,” “Stabat Mater,” and “Dies Iræ” are sequences of this sort.
These sequences are really concessions to the popular taste of the time.
The mass of the people loved melody and rhythm, characteristics which
were ultimately recognized as necessary to church music.
The folk-songs of Germany are quite unlike the Minnelieder (love-songs).
This is evident both in the words and melodies. The folk-song is more
naïve, tender and rhythmical than the heavy and solemn Minnelied. In
most cases the latter resembles the choral in having slow and equal
notes. Comparatively few of the old folk-songs have come down to us
unchanged, and of still fewer do we know the date of composition.
Probably we owe many of them to travelling minstrels, who went about
from place to place.
During the sway of the Troubadours, the love of poetry and song spread
over Europe, and Germany was directly influenced by them. The
Minnesingers were a similar class of knightly lyrists. Their favorite
meeting-place was the Wartburg, near Eisenach, at the Court of Hermann,
Landgrave of Thuringia. Among the most celebrated of these poet-singers
were Wolfram von Eschenbach, Walther von der Vogelweide, Heinrich
Schreiber and Heinrich von Zwetschin. The influence of the Minnesingers
was greatest in the thirteenth century, and rapidly died out in the
following. They were succeeded by the Mastersingers who were of the
burgher class, and included in their ranks schoolmasters, clerks and
mechanics. The foremost Mastersinger was Hans Sachs, the famous
poet-cobbler, who lived in Nuremberg in the sixteenth century. The music
of the Mastersingers was in general heavy and expressionless, very much
like church psalmody.
Wagner has immortalized both classes of mediæval singers in his
“Tannhäuser” and “Mastersingers,” but the true source of his inspiration
was not their music, but the poetic and dramatic characteristics of the
picturesque life of those days.
The folk-songs were more rhythmical and melodious than either the
Minnesongs or Mastersongs. It is certain that as an element of influence
in the practice and development of music in the latter part of the
Middle Ages and at the time of the Reformation, popular music in Germany
had risen to an eminence hardly second to the Gregorian song.
Some of the music of the Minnesingers was a direct outgrowth from the
folk-songs. Their poems were composed principally to interest those who
lived at court, but the music, so far as it had melodic character, was
imitated and developed from the melodies of the people. A rude and
simple instrumental accompaniment was characteristic of these
productions. The element of declamation, too, must have been very
important, for even up to the thirteenth century the “singing” and the
“saying” of poetry were identical in meaning.
The folk-songs had great influence, as we have seen, on the melodic
invention of composers of the Reformation. Other influences were potent,
however, in determining the various forms of composition. The
development of counterpoint in the Netherlands, and the higher _a
capella_ church style in Italy, were important for Germany. Attempts
were made to treat secular melodies in the elaborate style of the
Netherlanders, with the melody in the tenor, accompanied by several
contrapuntal parts.
Heinrich Isaak, who was a member of the choir of the Emperor Maximilian
from 1493 to 1519, enjoyed Italian training, and wrote sacred and
secular music in the prevailing Flemish style. He won for himself the
title of the “German Orpheus.” His contemporary, Heinrich Finck, was
likewise famous and beloved. Also Stephan Mahu, a singer in the choir of
Ferdinand I., was of the same school, and wrote motets and
“lamentations” in a simple but sublime style. The earliest Protestant
music was in the style of these masters, and the choral with
contrapuntal accompaniment was suggested by their treatment of sacred
chants and secular melodies. Under the influence of the Reformation,
sacred music was cultivated with renewed fervor.
Martin Luther, the head and front of the great movement, took a profound
interest in music, which he exemplified by his noble “Ein’ feste Burg,”
and other melodies and hymns. Associated with him were the musicians
Johann Walther and Louis Senfl. Their labors did not extend beyond the
middle of the sixteenth century, and may be said to mark the first
period of Protestant Church music. Walther was court musician at Torgau
when called by Luther to Wittenberg to collaborate with the singer,
Conrad Rupff, concerning the arrangement of the German mass. Walther’s
choral book was the first one published. It appeared at Wittenberg in
1524, under the supervision of Luther, who wrote a preface to the work.
[Illustration:
LUDWIG SENFL.
]
The most able musical character of the period was Ludwig Senfl. He was
born and educated in Switzerland, and was a pupil of Heinrich Isaak. He
became a member of the choir of Emperor Maximilian, and in 1530 was
chosen director of church music at the Bavarian court in Munich, a
position afterward held by Orlando Lasso.
Senfl was not only a composer of motets and other church music, but
also, according to the custom of his day, set to music many ancient
odes, particularly those of Horace. A collection of these odes was
published in 1534 at Nuremberg. Senfl did not compose original chorals,
but in his contrapuntal treatment of them displayed a higher degree of
skill and taste than his contemporaries, and he was clearly the
forerunner of masters like Eccard and Michael Prætorius. A pure,
religious spirit animates his works, and the chaste style of his themes
and counterpoint renders his music interesting. Among other masters of
this period who were influenced by the Flemish school may be mentioned
Heinrich Finck, Rahw, Resinarius, Agricola, Duces, Dietrich and Stolzer.
Finck is especially noted for his motet-like arrangements of chorals;
and Rahw published in 1544 a collection of chorals to which the
above-named composers and others contributed.
As has been said, this activity in Protestant music was not without
parallel in Catholic music. Indeed, the works of these same composers
were sung in the Catholic cathedrals of their native land. Heinrich
Isaak, who has already been mentioned, was the only noteworthy composer
of this time who devoted himself exclusively to Catholic Church music.
His work, in common with that of a multitude of lesser masters, was
surpassed infinitely by the achievements of Orlando Lasso. This great
musician, although a Belgian by birth, spent much of his life in
Germany, and from his prominent position at Munich wielded a powerful
influence on the musical life of his age.
The second period in the development of Protestant Church music may be
said to have begun about the middle of the sixteenth century, when it
became the fixed custom to place the melody in the highest part of the
harmony. When given to the tenor, the melody could never assert its
rights, for it was often lost in the polyphonic complexity of the other
voices. Its transference to the soprano—a reform suggested by the _stile
familiare_ of Josquin de Près and by the Italian _frottole_ and
_villanelle_—had been determined by the Calvinist psalm collections of
1542 and later. This new style of composition was assiduously cultivated
during the latter half of the century, and its ablest representatives
were Hassler, Eccard and Michael Prætorius.
Hans Leo Hassler was born at Nuremberg in 1564, and died in 1612. He was
educated in music by Andreas Gabrieli at Venice. He was one of the first
organists of his time, and a clever contrapuntist and composer. Although
a disciple of the Venetian school, his compositions have a genuine
German simplicity and strength; but the most justly celebrated German
composer of the century was Johannes Eccard, who was born at Mülhausen
in 1553. It was conjectured that he was a pupil of Lasso. Eccard’s music
is simple compared with that of his contemporaries of the Venetian and
Roman schools. He was content to use his gifts in a less pretentious
way, but nevertheless his Festival Songs deserve a place among the best
church music. They are a perfect embodiment of religious devotion, and
show a complete mastery of the peculiar form which he adopted in his
music. In his works the melody appears in the soprano, but is not
sufficiently individualized to be separated from the harmony. The parts
are generally five in number, they move freely, and are well adapted to
the voices of the singers. Eccard was likewise the composer of sacred
songs, which are noble in comparison with similar music of his day; but
his attention was devoted chiefly to church music. Two of his pupils
became celebrated musicians, Johann Stobäus and Heinrich Albert. The
latter had an important influence on the early development of the German
Lied.
[Illustration:
HANS LEO HASSLER.
]
[Illustration: