Nu wol uf, knight, ez is tac!

Description

No sooner had the idea of high minnesong spread from France to the German courts than a countermovement arose. A particularly popular genre of this “Gegensang” was the “Tagelied”. Basic situation here: a couple spent the night in togetherness and secretly. The potential for conflict: their meeting usually takes place in the home chamber of the lady, who – what remains unspoken – is already married. Therefore, at daybreak, there is primarily the risk of discovery of both with, in the best case, subsequent loss of honor. However, with the figure of the “watchman”, there is usually a third person in the group who has been entrusted with the task of warning the couple in time before dawn. This constellation provides the framework for a multitude of possible punch lines and turns of phrase, to which one poet was apparently particularly attracted: a “von Wissenlo” has handed down exclusively day songs in the Manessian song manuscript. Since his melodies have been lost in the absence of musical tradition, new melodies based on historical tunes were composed for the edition. The CD accompanying this booklet (unfortunately out of print): The CD recorded in 2001 by the group Freiburger Spielleyt “Nu wol ûf, ritter, ez ist tac!”, which contains part of the repertoire of this booklet (order no. CD 0403).