Oswald in Constance

(ca. 1415-17)

During the Council of Constance, the Tirolian poet and singer Oswald von Wolkenstein joined the party, amusing his friends and admirers with clever songs about living conditions in the overcrowded city, thronged as it was by churchmen, diplomats, princes and their courts, opportunists, hangers-on, thieves, prostitutes and street rabble. He sang about overpriced taverns, the bad quality of food and drink, and the hard-headed business sense of the local 'working' girls. But he also made songs about current political scandals and was not shy about naming names, especially his own. The neighboring city of Überlingen, where many council participants stayed, was also not spared criticism: shameless inn-owners, bad wine, high prices and dubious romantic encounters made his life miserable.

Norbert Rodenkirchen

With evident self-irony, Oswald gladly recounts his disastrous visit to a one particular tavern, but he also sings an allegorical and political song about the heretical Hussites (here disguised as geese). He also delights us with a sung debate between a rich burgher of Constance and a vain but impoverished courtier, with an ancient crone appointed as judge. The theme being debated: who has more luck with the girls, a boring man with a heavy sack of coins, or a good-looking, blond fop who can dance but cannot pay? The program also includes two of Oswald's most famous autobiographical songs (Es fügt sich, and Durch Barbarei, Arabia) and a series of instrumental pieces based on Oswald's unforgettable melodies.