The Songs of Michel Beheim : A Selection

Abstract

Michel Beheim (1420–ca. 1474), prolific and peripatetic composer of almost 500 song-poems, explored a very wide thematic and stylistic range, embracing almost every type of song accessible to the late medieval and early modern singer. He wrote lyrics on history and love, politics and travel, geography and aesthetics, morals and warfare, satire and diplomacy, polemics and religion, Dracula and ocean monsters – and more. Often his own scribe, Beheim, ever the self-important artist, carefully preserved his work for posterity. Sometimes housed at the highest courts of the Empire, but frequently without sustenance, Beheim led a life in constant search of literary patronage. In the end, he was forced into retirement because his monophonic singing fell out of favor, rivalled by the polyphonic music of the Renaissance courts. This new collection of annotated translations of his work offers an introduction to his vast oeuvre.

“Our foremost translator and commentator, Professor Ogier is a surefooted guide to the challenging oeuvre of Michel Beheim, an under-appreciated author of vast range. Ogier’s colloquial, yet true renditions perfectly capture the tone and timbre of a long-stilled, but vital voice. This volume is particularly welcome because it contains many of the first English versions of richly diverse and important song-poems. It is to be hoped that this volume finds a place in our university classrooms, where Michel Beheim will surely gain an appreciative audience.”

– Professor William C. McDonald, University of Virginia

“James Ogier meets the scientific standards required since the new assessment of Beheim’s poetry in the history of pre-Meistersang. This concerns the selection of the poems with its special focus as well as the transcription of Beheim’s melodies as an integral part of his art. Therefore, I strongly endorse this publication.”

– Professor Sieglinde Hartmann, Universität Würzburg