> > Does anyone know more of Voigtländer and his book of 1642? Any > analysisis of the contents? And perhaps the German list members may > take a look and tell more about the book? My German is not very good, > and also reading the font used in the book is not fluent to me... > > All the best, > > Arto > Dear Arto,
I am so glad that you have noticed Voigtlaender. I have often wondered why he was so relatively unknown. I am by no means a singer, but these songs almost lead me to forget this fact, so sometimes I draw the sound-proof blinds and treat myself and the cats to an hour of Voigtlaender. He is a very interesting figure in Danish music history. The language spoken at court was mainly German, but since his songs are related to Danish goings-on, I think it is fair to cosider it Danish cultural material. Voigtlaender sings satirically about people who don't bother to listen to his songs. He also describes drinking and courting at the court. This is not really the Danish court, but a sort of practice-court, established for Chr. IV's eldest son, the designated Chr. V. This much underrated prince died before his father, and his castle in Nykoebing Falster has been torn down. So Voigtlaender's sassy songs provide welcome information about this fairytale-court of long ago. It is believed, that it was Voigtlaender, who treated the wedding-guests at the Prince's wedding in 1636 to a number of lute-songs, that "made the ladies change the colour of their faces". Happy Voigtlaendering! Arne Keller. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
