Neujahrsgeschenk mit Gesang

Abstract

At the turn of the year 1623/24, Martin Opitz published the Song of praise about the joyous birthday of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in German Alexandrine verse. Being a gift for the New Year the work combines high erudition with a very personal stance. The poem concludes with a Latin Sapphic ode which derives its full meaning from the intended well-known melody. Amazingly many poets copied Opitz in writing epic-dramatic poems including song(s) as New Year’s dedication; they imitated his motifs and even his title by way of aemulatio. When Opitz’ tendency towards dramatic representation and visualisation is enhanced, the work comes close to another musical epic-dramatic genre, the actus. We encounter this in several academic communities, its finest example being a musical composition by Johann Rosenmüller to words by Johann Ziegler.