Middle Ages/Höfische Kultur

The Nibelungenlied originated around 1200 in the lands around the Danube River (Passau, Germany?). Unfortunately the authentic melody that this most famous middle high German epic poem is lost. In the musical example it is sung by Eberhard Kummer to the Hildebrandstone. He accompanies himself on the harb and the hurdy-gurdy. Such singers who accompanied themselves were important for the development of music in Europe because they provided the best possible means of expressing the unity of music and text. Various themes that could come from very different historical periods could be combined here to form an epic unity (for example, the historical figures Attila and Theodorich were two generations apart). The illustration and musical example present the beginning of the first "Aventiure." (E. Stadler)