meistersinger

meistersinger [Ger.,=mastersinger], a member of one of the musical and poetic guilds that flourished in German cities during the 15th and 16th cent. The guilds or schools comprised chiefly artisans who claimed artistic descent from the courtly minnesingers . Each member was required to compose and sing according to rigid technical formulas laid down in the Tabulatur. Candidates for the coveted rank of Meister were judged in public contest. Some of the song texts of Hans Sachs and others became famous, but it was Richard Wagner's opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868) that popularized knowledge of the movement.

Meistersinger a member of one of the guilds of German lyric poets and musicians which flourished from the 12th to 17th century. Their technique was elaborate and they were subject to rigid regulations, as depicted in Wagner's opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868).

Meistersinger German poet-musicians of the 15th–16th centuries. They formed guilds, which held competitions and awarded prizes. Generally, the songs were religious and followed strict conventions. Some guilds continued into the 18th century. Richard Wagner immortalized a meistersinger, the cobbler Hans Sachs (1494–1576), in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868).