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16-508: The Society was founded in 1644 by the poets Georg Philipp Harsdörffer and Johann Klaj on the model of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft ( Fruitbearing Society ). Members called themselves Pegnitzschäfer (Pegnitz shepherds). The stated goal of the society was the "support and improvement of German language and poetry." After the deaths of Klaj and Harsdörffer (1656, 1658, resp.), Sigmund von Birken revived

32-583: A broad classical education in the home of his family before pursuing studies at the University of Strassburg where he studied under professor Matthias Bernegger . After completing his studies, he traveled through the Netherlands , England , France and Italy . While he was in Italy, he came into contact with members of learned academies. He shared his desire for reform in literary and linguistic for

48-460: A fishing rod, a bow and arrow and a crown of flowers). Once again Gwissulda and Herzigild save Seelewig from their seductions. Seelewig takes fright during a storm and sings a song asking advice from the forest echo, which warns her to flee the snares of this world. The next morning Trügewald and his friends try a new way to trick Seelewig. Seelewig again asks advice from the echo but this time it

64-526: A selection of his poems, which are mostly interesting for their form, can be found in Müller's Bibliothek deutscher Dichter des 17ten Jahrhunderts , vol. ix (Leipzig, 1826). Widmann (Altdorf, 1707) wrote a biography of him. His eight volume work, Frauenzimmer Gesprächspiele (published from 1641-1649) contains a variety of literary works by Harsdörffer. Some of these texts are important to German music history; including Harsdörffer's libretto to Seelewig which

80-729: A way which foreshadows the Singspiel . It was performed before the court at Nuremberg in 1644. Duchess Elisabeth Sophie of Mecklenburg also arranged a performance at Wolfenbüttel on 21 April 1654 and it was staged again in Augsburg in 1698. In the 1970s it was revived with productions in Germany, the Netherlands and Oberlin, Ohio . Music confesses her disappointment that so much recent entertainment has been secular. Allied with Poetry, she intends to return to her true vocation:

96-405: Is Trügewald who replies, disguising his voice. This echo tells Seelewig to give herself over to the pleasures of this world. As Seelewig plays a game of blind man's buff with the shepherds, Trügewald leaps out and catches her. But Gwissulda and Herzigild pull the blindfold off Seelewig's eyes to reveal the ugly truth. Trügewald and his companions are chased from the forest. Seelewig is converted and

112-607: Is the oldest surviving German-language opera . That opera used music by composer Sigmund Theophil Staden who also used Harsdörffer as his librettist for the musical pageant Tugendsterne . The text to this work is also contained in the Frauenzimmer Gesprächspiele . In his Treatise to Protect the Work on the German Language (1644) , he asserted that German ‘speaks with the tongues of nature.' He

128-460: The Society and became its director until his death in 1681. Under his leadership a total of almost 60 new members were inducted. Unusually for the time, Birken also allowed women to join; a total of 14 did so. The best known among these was Maria Catharina Stockfleth  [ de ] (1634–1692). The 1660s and 1670s saw the society at its most fertile; its members produced many pastorals in

144-506: The fourth part of his Frauenzimmer Gesprächspiele , is based on the schoolplay Ein gar schön geistliches Waldgetichte genant Die glückseelige Seele of 1637, itself translated from L'anima felice favola boschareccia by the Italian Nicolò Negri (1606). It is the earliest German opera whose music has survived. On the surface, the work seems to be a typical Christian allegory of the soul's journey through this world and

160-570: The improvement of moral and culture of the society. Harsdörffer returned to Nuremberg in 1634. There he worked as a government assessor until 1655 when he was elected to the Nuremberg city council. During that time he became a vocal advocate for the purification of the German language. His knowledge of languages earned him the appellation "the learned." He was well-versed in contemporary French culture and literature . As an innovative poet, he

176-492: The praise of God. The satyr Trügewald wants to seduce the beautiful nymph Seelewig. Fearing his own ugliness will lead to failure, he enlists the help of the vain young shepherd Künsteling, as well as Ehrelob, Reichimuth and Sinnigunda. Sinnigunda tries to lead Seelewig from the path of virtue but Gwissulda and Herzigild warn the latter to beware of her deceit. The thwarted Trügewald is furious. Künsteling, Ehrelob, Reichimuth and Sinnigunda ply Seelewig with gifts (a telescope,

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192-485: The society has continually maintained a membership of some sort, and remains active to this day. Georg Philipp Harsd%C3%B6rffer Georg Philipp Harsdörffer (1 November 1607 – 17 September 1658) was a Jurist, Baroque-period German poet and translator. Georg Philipp Harsdörffer was born in Nuremberg on 1 November 1607 into a patrician family. He studied law at Altdorf and Strassburg . He received

208-461: The style of Virgil and Opitz . After Birken's death the Society began a slow decline. His successors Martin Limburger  [ de ] and Magnus Daniel Omeis  [ de ] were not especially successful in their attempt to promote and propagate the florid Baroque style in the 18th century, by which time the more structured neoclassical style had become the norm. Nevertheless,

224-496: The symbolic action takes place in a pastoral setting. Nonetheless, recent inquiries which account for the context of the libretto in Harsdörffer's Frauenzimmer Gesprächspiele have pointed out several problems of a seamless allegoresis. Those readings make it much more likely that Seelewig is bound to its Jesuit pretext in a complex, competitive and even polemic way. The opera mixes musical numbers and spoken dialogue in

240-670: Was receptive to ideas from abroad. He is still known for his "Germanizations" of foreign-language terms. As a member of the Fruitbearing Society (Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft) he was called der Spielende (the player). In 1644 jointly with Johann Klaj he founded the Pegnesischer Blumenorden , a literary society , in Nuremberg. He was known by the name Strephon among the members of this order. His writings in German and Latin fill fifty volumes, and

256-497: Was the father of Karl Gottlieb Harsdörffer (1637–1708). [REDACTED] Media related to Georg Philipp Harsdörffer at Wikimedia Commons Seelewig Seelewig or Das geistliche Waldgedicht oder Freudenspiel genant Seelewig ( The Sacred Forest Poem or Play of Rejoicing called Seelewig ) is an opera in a prologue, three acts and an epilogue by the German composer Sigmund Theophil Staden . The libretto by Georg Philipp Harsdörffer (1607–1658), first published 1644 in

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