German 'Minnesinger'

from: Encyclopædia Britannica

I went to an extraordinary recreation of a performance of the minnesanger a few years ago. It was spell-binding. There was a particular piece by a Norwegian about sailing and dragons that almost knocked me out of the pew i was sitting in.

I like the sample you brought in Walter. In my living room, I have a painting of the Luneburger Heide, done by a friend of my grandparents in the 1920's. It was in my parents' living room when i was small. I thought it was a painting of a field of cooked, red cabbage. Once i saw the real Heide, i was in love.

Very interesting and good stuff Walter. I am ashamed to admit that I know little of German poetry or literature (except for the novels of Thomas Mann and the stories of E.T.W. Hoffman). I will find a good translation and read it with pleasaure.

Was the transition to "modern German" a gradual thing or was it coincident with the 19th century change in the alphabet?

george

(Welcome to A2K, btw!)

The translation was done in 2000 by a teacher for music and German. (He actually did a lot of translations and works about [German] music:(German) website: Martin Schlu)

How interesting Walter - I seem to
remember listening to a tape by a
speaker, regarding how the transcendant
religious experience had; in the early 1600's
or 1700's; been transformed into what
was called in France; "courtly love".
A love that was pure in every way.
A love that would be destroyed by its
becoming anything but adoration from afar.
The comparison was made that what once
was in humans the pure religious experience
had come to be translated into a new form
This concept of unrequited love...
Then changing & becoming the concept
of "true love" - of seeing THE DIVINE
through the eyes of OUR OWN BELOVED.
And that our modern CHALLENGE is
to find a "suitable container" for
this "transcendant experience" for we
can not live daily in the face of the
fire of "this burning love" without
being burned up in the process.
It seemed that he was saying,
the essence of spirituality is a
mobile thing, that it can pick up
and move from the church, to the
chaste lover singing love songs
from afar, to the human "true love"
relationships wherein we see
DIVINITY in the eyes of our beloved.
We are part of, participants of this
transcendant experience
daily, in our own lives.
I think this speaker was Robert
Johnson, an Episcopal minister from
California, I believe, who frequently
speaks & participates in yearly meetings
that are called "Journey Into Wholeness"