Alpine Airs: Music of Switzerland, 13th-16th Centuries

Minnesang is the German tradition of courtly lyric and song that flourished during the Middle High German period. Its name derives from “minne” (love), reflecting its central focus on idealized courtly love (hohe Minne), alongside nature imagery, crusade songs, and occasional political pieces. Musically it consists mainly of monophonic, strophic songs (Minnelieder) in bar form (AAB: two Stollen followed by an Abgesang). Texts are in Middle High German, crafted with refined rhyme and meter. Performance was typically by poet‑singers (Minnesänger) who either sang unaccompanied or with discreet accompaniment on medieval instruments such as harp, vielle (fiddle), or lute. While closely comparable to the Occitan troubadours and Old French trouvères, Minnesang is regarded as an original German contribution to courtly lyric.