This lecture-performance will present works from the Spruchsang repertoire while investigating the relationship between the music of Heinrich von Meissen, called Frauenlob (d. 1318), and his imitators in order to provide both a performance practice and a new perspective of medieval Germanic monophonic song. Structures of nationalism have tended to guide our musicking with medieval German lyric verse, whether through the works of Richard Wagner, Carl Orff, or the creation of musical canon; even the unsuspecting Walther von der Vogelweide, whose one example of Minnesang with extant music, Palestinalied, has caught the eye of members of the alt-right movement throughout the world.

By contrast, the music of Frauenlob has hardly been performed: a combination of his expressive, rich poetry with themes in support of “women” (his moniker means “In Praise of Women”), and the genres in which he writes and for which music is still extant were perhaps interesting to nineteenth-century dramaturgs, poets, and musicologists, but did not capture the imagination of the nationalist movement. Spruchsang, the art of creating melodies and strict poetic forms for repetition in subsequent strophes, were largely miscategorized as Meistersang, which was thought to be less inspired than Minnesang. While the work of compiling Frauenlob’s music and texts has been largely completed (Brunner and Stackmann, 2010; Stackmann and Bertau 1981-2000), interpreting Spruchsang melodies for performance provides a unique opportunity not only to investigate a canonically unexplored repertoire, but also to shed new light on the genres which have been held captive to a prevailing narrative.

Soprano Anna O’Connell has been noted for her “lovely tone” (Cleveland Classical) and regularly performs early music, exploring self-accompaniment on a variety of historical and folk harps. She has been a featured soloist with the Hong Kong Early Music Society, Trinity Cathedral Chamber Singers, and the Maui Chamber Orchestra, and is performing a concert of Irish and Baroque music with the Cleveland-based early music ensemble Apollo’s Fire in March 2021. She will also be featured this spring in Early Music America’s “Emerging Artist Showcase” as part of the duo Time Stands Still with Addi Liu. Her interest in medieval chant and historical harps led her to study at Case Western Reserve University in Historical Performance, where she is currently pursuing a DMA. Previously, O’Connell was Director of Music Ministry for the Cornell Catholic Community at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where she directed choirs, mentored collegiate musicians, and taught voice lessons for four years. In addition, she assisted direction of, and later performed as a soloist, with the Cornell Chorale, a 120-voice choir. O’Connell received degrees in music education from Providence College and choral conducting from the University of Southern California. She currently studies voice with Ellen Hargis and Dina Kuznetsova, and historical harps with Maxine Eilander.