Monk of Salzburg (formerly Hermann von Salzburg), Austrian poet and composer active in the second half of the 14th century. The lack of biographical data means that his identification remains uncertain to this day. The content of his works and the acrostic introduced in one of them suggest that he was associated with the court of the Archbishop of Salzburg, Pilgrim II von Puchheim (1365–96). One of the manuscripts containing his works names the Benedictine monk Herman as their author, while two others refer to him as John (once as a Dominican). He is sometimes identified with Johannes II von Rossessing, prior (1364–75) of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter in Salzburg, or with the otherwise unknown Brother Herman, mentioned in the obituary of the same abbey.
The exact number of works by the Monk of Salzburg is unknown. Based on the records of his poetic and musical works, found in over 90 manuscripts from the 15th and 16th centuries, either anonymous or most often signed “Munch von Salczpurg”, it is widely accepted that he is the author of approximately 49 sacred songs and approximately 57 secular songs. Records in numerous manuscript song collections and early prints testify to their great popularity among all social classes. Many works have survived with music, including numerous songs with several different melodies. All these works, rich in variants, were widely disseminated mainly in German-speaking areas and areas under German influence (including Silesia and Gdańsk). They seem to have been written in the last three decades of the 14th century; the oldest known song appears in Codex Engelberg 314 (fol. 8nn) from 1372, and two other poems date from 1387 and 1392. The poetic and musical output of the Monk of Salzburg encompasses a wide range of genres, from translations of Latin hymns and sequences, through his own original sacred works in German, highly artistic Töne in the style of Meistersang, secular leiche, to love songs, drinking songs, and rhymed genre scenes. Some religious songs, due to the content and artistic value of both their lyrics and melodies, were incorporated into the liturgy of that period. The style of the original songs by the Monk of Salzburg is equally rich (some of his works are contrafacta of hymns, sequences, etc.). Their melodic style oscillates between simple imitation of chant melodies rooted in the modal system of plainchant and chordal melodic progressions modelled on folk songs, marked by clear diatonicism and a pronounced predominance of major-mode elements. In terms of rhythm, simple syllabic declamation and uncomplicated, mostly even rhythmic patterns prevail. Like Oswald von Wolkenstein, the Monk of Salzburg also composed polyphonic songs which, although quite simple in texture, played an important role in the development of German music.
Literature: F. Pfeiffer Die Kirchenlieder des Mönchs von Salzburg, “Altdeutsche Blätter”, 1840; W. Baumker Das katholische deutsche Kirchenlied in seinen Singweisen, 2 vols., Freiburg 1883, 1886; H. Rietsch Der Mönch von Salzburg, “Musica divina” II, 1914; O. Ursprung Die Mondseer Liederhandschrift und Hermann, der Münch von Salzburg. Vier Studien zur Geschichte des deutschen Liedes II, “Archiv für Musikwissenschaft” V, 1923; F. Eberth Die Liedweisen der Kolmarer Liederhandschrift, Getynga 1933; R. Bauerreis Wer ist der “Mönch von Satzburg”?, «Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktinerordens» LII, 1934; R. Zitzmann Die Melodien der Kolmarer Liederhandschrift, «Literarhistorischen musikwissenschaftlichen Abhandlungen» IX, Würzburg 1944; W. Wiora Zur Frühgeschichte der Musik in den Alpenländern, Basil 1949; Ch. Petzsch Die Kolmarer Liederhandschrift. Entstehung und Geschichte, Munich 1978; B. Wachinger Der Mönch von Salzburg, Tübingen 1989; H. Waechter Die geistlichen Lieder des Mönchs von Salzburg. Untersuchungen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Melodien, «Göppinger Arbeiten zur Germanistik» DCCXXIV, Göppingen 2005; S. Engels Geisliche Lieder des Mönchs von Salzburg, in: Musikleben des Spämittelalters in der Region Österreich, ed. B. Lodes, Vienna 2016; S. Rosmer Der Mönch von Salzburg und das lateinische Lied. Die geistlichen Lieder in stolligen Strophen und das einstimmige gottesdienstliche Lied im späten Mittelalter, Wiesbaden 2019; D. Murray ‘Ju, ich jag’: A Three-part Song in the Mönch von Salzburg Corpus in Translingual Perspective, “Oxford German Studies” XLIX, 2020, no. 1.
Die Mondsee-Wiener Liederhandschrift, ed. F.A. Mayer, H. Rietsch, «Acta Germanica» III–IV, Berlin 1894–96
P. Runge Die Sangesweisen der Colmarer Handschrift und die Liederhandschrift Donaueschingen, Leipzig 1896
F.V. Spechtler Die geistlichen Lieder des Mönchs von Salzburg, «Quellen und Forschungen zur Sprach- und Kulturgeschichte der germanischen Völker», Neue Folge LI (CLXXV), Berlin-New York 1972 (contains texts without melodies)
Der Mönch von Salzburg: Auswahlausgabe mit Übersetzungen und Melodien, ed. F. Spechtler and M. Korth, Monachium 1980; Die weltlichen Lieder des Mönchs von Salzburg. Texte und Melodien, ed. Ch. März, «Münchener Texte und Untersuchungen zur deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters» CXIV, Tübingen 1999
Der Mönch von Salzburg. Sämtliche Lieder, ed. F.V. Spechtler, Klagenfurt 2004 (texts translated into New German)
Liederbuch zum Mönch von Salzburg, ed. F.V. Spechtler et al., Salzburg 2004
Der Mönch von Salzburg: Die Melodien zu sämtlichen geistlichen und weltlichen Liedern, ed. H. Waechter, F.V. Spechtler, «Göppinger Arbeiten zur Germanistik» DCCXIX, Göppingen 2004
