performance of such a play is recorded in Arnhem on 23 February 1395 with a cast of apprentices. Neithart Fuchs The Neidhart persona of the songs was taken up by later generations and perpetuated as the figure of Neithart Fuchs (Fuchs= "fox"), the fictional knightly hero of a comic tale surviving in three printed editions, 1491–1566. The tale begins with the ("The Tale of the Violet"), after which the hero repeatedly bests the peasants with pranks and combat. Frescoes In about 1407, Viennese cloth merchant Michel Menschein commissioned a series of four murals for his private dance-hall based on songs by Neidhart. Each fresco depicts scenes from one of the four seasons of the year. The frescoes are remarkable as one of the few surviving works of the kind on a secular subject from so early a date. They were discovered during redevelopment in 1979 and are exhibited in situ by the City of Vienna Museum, which undertook an extensive restoration. Editions (21 songs with German translation and commentary.) (Salzburger Neidhart-Edition) English (Nine songs with notes in English.) With English translation and commentary. Neidhartspiele Neithart Fuchs Texts The first strophe of a Summer and a Winter Song. Sommerlied Rhyme scheme: AABBB Winterlied Rhyme scheme: AABBC DDEEC FGGF Notes References Recordings Among the many recordings of Neidhart's songs, the following have his work as their main focus: Discography External links Manuscripts M: München, Staatsbibliothek, Clm 4660, fol 68r (Carmina Burana) Description — Digital facsimile (Bavarian State Library, Munich). R: Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, mgf 1062 (Riedegg MS) Description — Digital facsimile (Berlin State Library). C: Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift (Manesse Codex): Description — Digital facsimile (Heidelberg University Library). c: Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, mgf 779 (Ried MS) Description — Digital facsimile (Berlin State Library). 1190s births 1240s deaths 13th-century German composers 13th-century German poets Minnesingers Musicians from Bavaria People of medieval Bavaria