=Mastersingers=.—The most noted musical organization among the people was that of the Mastersingers (celebrated in Richard Wagner’s opera); Nuremberg, Mayence, Strassburg and Frankfort were their centres. The members were organized into a Guild, just as was the case in trade affairs; they had a charter from the Emperor Charles IV. Their poetry and music were not elevated, for the members of the Guild were not of a standing and an education to give them real skill in the fine arts. The records of the Mastersingers show that the members were principally tradesmen, such as farriers, armorers, locksmiths, tailors, cobblers; yet there were some members who could lay claims to culture and higher standing, as engravers, physicians and a few gentlemen of leisure. The most conspicuous of them all was =Hans Sachs=, the cobbler-poet of Nuremberg. Their works were marked by _monotonous melody_, (for the pitch is but little varied) and a heavy, clumsy rhythm. To make up for the lack of real artistic idea they were _pedantic_ to an extreme; composition was hedged about by a multitude of rules, to which composers must give exact obedience. These rules were given in a code called Tablatura. They held contests in which the members vied in producing works exemplifying the principles of the organization. QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. What country in Europe was inhabited by the Gauls? Where did the Celts live? What countries did the Scandinavians inhabit? Give an account of their music. Describe the work of minstrels, jongleurs, trouvères, troubadours. Where did the Minnesingers live? Tell about the Mastersingers. Give the names of minstrels or other singers famous in history. What was the condition of the artisan classes and guilds in the larger German cities at this time? If possible, get the stories of the operas, “Tannhäuser” and the “Mastersingers of Nuremberg” and read them privately or in the class. SUGGESTIONS FOR A REVIEW OF PREVIOUS LESSONS. Give an idea of the process by which music becomes an art and what the principles of music are. What sciences are drawn upon, and how, in the study of the beginnings of music? What countries offer interest to the student of musical beginnings? How are these races related? Give a summary of music among the Chinese. The Japanese. The Hindoos. Give a summary of music among the Chaldeans. The Egyptians. The Hebrews. What points in common did these races show? Give an account of the writers on music among the Greeks, and their works. Describe the Scale of Conjunct Tetrachords. Disjunct Tetrachords. The Lesser Perfect System. The Greater Perfect System. Give the names of the various Greek Scales. Give a summary of the Greek Octave System. Describe the Chromatic and Enharmonic Scales. Describe the Greek musical instruments; notation.