Neidhart von Reuental (Middle
High German: Nîthart
von Riuwental; also Her Nîthart; possibly born c. 1190 - died after
1236 or 1237)[1] was one of the most famous German minnesingers. He was probably active in the Duchy of Bavaria and then is known to have been a
singer at the court of Duke Frederick II of Austria in Vienna. As a minnesinger he was most active from 1210
to at least 1236.
Neidhart is very well known for
being rather sarcastic and comical. More melodies survive by him than from any
other minnesinger.
Life and work
He was mentioned in a passage of Wolfram
von Eschenbach's Willehalm poem written before 1217, when
Neidhart had already achieved a certain degree of fame. All manuscript sources
until the 15th century refer to him only as "Nithart". The origin of
the name itself is Nithard, Altniederfränkisch and the meaning is hard in
hostility. With time and expanded geographical use, the spelling has changed
and the meaning eventually being confused when interpreted in modern German.
His name has before been believed to be an allegorical pseudonym, for its meaning could be
interpreted more or less as Grim-Heart of Lament-Valley. The second part
of his name, was created by philologists of the 19th century, who took
literally the role of the "speaker," who calls himself "von
Reuental" in his poems, and thus combined it with the author's name, which
was simply "Nîthart".
His earlier poetry referred to places
in the Bavarian and Salzburg
region, while later he called the Austrian duke Frederick II his patron. He mentions a residence at Lengbach near Tulln, west of
Neidhart's poetry was handed down by
the Codex
Buranus and
other medieval song manuscripts (Liederhandschriften) such as the Codex Manesse. His songs about the dreary rural
life often stand in harsh contrast to the normal minnesinger topic, courtly or
romantic love. His style has been referred to as Höfische Dorfpoesie
(courtly village-poetry) by philologist Karl Lachmann (1793-1851) and was often imitated
by composers called pseudo-Neidharts. Probably his best-known song is Meienzît
(May Time) in which Neidhart starts by describing a peaceful spring
scenario but quickly comes to insulting his foes (and several friends and
allies who betrayed him). Perpetuated as Neithart Fuchs by later
generations, he remained a popular character well into the early
modern period;
several farces based on his life and poetry are among the oldest
profane dramas in Germany.[3]
Frescoes
In about 1407, Viennese cloth
merchant Michel Menschein commissioned a series of four murals for his private
dance-hall based on songs by Neidhart. Each fresco depicts scenes from one of
the four seasons of the year. The frescoes are remarkable as one of the few
surviving works of the kind on a secular subject from so early a date. They
were discovered during redevelopment in 1979 and are exhibited in situ
by the City of
Vienna Museum,
which undertook an extensive restoration.[4]
References
1. Dates given in New Grove
2. Hatto, A.T.; Taylor, R.J.
(1958). The Songs of Neithart von Reuental. 17 Summer and Winter Songs Set to
Their Original Melodies with Translations and a Musical and Metrical Canon.
3. Michael Shields, "Neidhart [Nîthart] 'von Reuental' ['der von
Riuwental']" in New Grove Music Dictionary of Music and Musicians,
2001
4.
Neidhart Fresken [1], Wien Museum
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