Chapter 15

"Ridendo castigat mores"--Wagner's adherence to classical ideals of tragedy and comedy--The subject of the satire in "Die Meistersinger" --Wagenseil's book on Nuremberg--Plot of the comedy--The Church of St. Catherine in Nuremberg--A relic of the mastersingers--Mastersongs in the Municipal Library--Wagner's chorus of mastersingers, (footnote) --A poem by Sixtus Beckmesser--The German drama in Nuremberg--Hans Sachs's plays--His Tannhäuser tragedy--"Tristram and Iseult"--"The Wittenberg Nightingale" and "Wach' auf!"--Wagner's quotation from an authentic mastersong melody--Romanticism and classicism--The prelude to "Die Meistersinger."