Meistersängergeschichte. Cyriacus Spangenberg und der Ursprung des Meistergesangs

In my essay, I characterize Cyriacus Spangenberg's treatise Von der Musica und den Meistersängern (1598) as a work that understands literary history as an aesthetic memory and, on that account, continues it. To expound this characterization, I start by focusing on the medieval tradition of the Twelve Masters so as to show that we are dealing here with a kind of collective memory: The narrative aims to establish a social identity, owing to its responsiveness to art, is determined in a specific aesthetical manner. Although Spangenberg's own narrative establishes an identity no less, he avails himself of different methods and ultimately he has something different in mind. In the main part of my article, I spell out how Spangenberg marshals historical criticism, erudite knowledge and humanistic concepts of history to transform the traditional depiction of the origin of Meistergesang into a world history of music dans l'esprit de Martin Luther. In this connection I also discuss how and why Spangenberg brings the literary history of Meistergesang to bear upon the tale of the Wartburg contest; tat is, I consider its funca rough contest; sketch that of is, the I literary consider its reception function in his (re-)constructed history. Finally, I draw a rough sketch of the literary reception of Spangenberg's treatise and show that is narrative constellation does not only retain its identity-producing potentials but that it is also realizet through the various modifications it has endured right up until modern times.