Wandering musicians in medieval France who sang songs of courtly love. The troubadours were the first major source of secular music.
1100 - 1350
Minstrels & Troubadours
Walter von der Vogelweide
1170 - 1230
Walter von der Vogelweide is the greatest German minstrel of the Middle Ages of aristocratic birth, one of the best lyric poets of medieval Germany was born in Austria into an impoverished knight family, probably in Bozen in South Tyrol, and in or near a bird born in or near a bird reserve, as his name suggests leaves.
Walther was raised in a monastery school and wandered from farm to farm, singing songs for which he wrote both words and music. In addition, he was known for his sayings, which were often political. Vogelweide created verses and music for all of his works and sang the songs himself as he moved from place to place. His fame was widespread. He used and refined every known type of song and added new ones:
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real "high" minstrels, addressed to ladies of rank; "of course" addressed to modest girls;
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Dance songs;
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Songs of nature, summer, lament and abuse;
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Fables;
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Mystery;
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Parodies;
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Elegies;
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Prayers;
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Hymns of praise; and a
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crusade song in which he expressed the doctrine of Christian salvation.
He was particularly known for his bold political songs, addressed to secular and secular authorities down from popes and emperors, attacking them for what he believed to be wrongdoing, duplicity, greed, and other vices.
Hartmann von Aue
1170 - 1215
German poet, one of the great German writers of courtly romanticism.
Hartmann was of Swabian descent and belonged to the von Aue family. He was a knight and had a liberal arts education that he was proud of.
Hartmann was the first to introduce the topic of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table to the German courtly audience. Hartmann's reproductions in rhyming couplets are adaptations of the French originals. To these adjustments, Hartmann added moralizing reflections and idealized the characters' language and manners in order to adapt them to the new standards of courtly refinement.
His ethical view is a conception of chivalry in which the necessities of religious life and worldly life are in balance.
Adam de la Halle
1237 - 1286
Adam de la Halle, also known as Adam le bossu (the hunchback) or le boiteux (the limping), is one of the most famous trouvères.
First he studied in the Cistercian Abbey of Vaucelles. Here, at the request of his father, he should be prepared for the spiritual status. But he fell in love there and got married. After a failed marriage, he then continued his studies in Paris, where he graduated with the degree maître des arts.
Adam de la Halle belonged to the third generation of the Trouvères (1250 to 1300).
During this time, the initiative passed to the bourgeoisie, who joined together in singers' associations, called Puis.
The originality was replaced by competition, regulation and artificiality. This marked the end of the troubadours and trouvères movements.
Adam de la Halle composed three-part rondeaus and motets in addition to his one-part songs. Here he creates the connection between the unanimous Trouvère singing and polyphonic art music.
