The New International Encyclopædia/Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die

MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG, nụrn'bĕrK, Die. A musical comedy in three acts by Richard Wagner; first produced in Munich, June 21, 1868. The scene of the play is Nuremberg in the sixteenth century. Walter von Stolzing, a young knight, loves and is loved by Eva, the daughter of the goldsmith Pogner. Her father, however, has offered her hand as a prize in the forthcoming meistersinger tournament, and to avoid losing her, Walter determines to qualify for and take part in the contest. He succeeds in being accepted as a candidate, and with the help of Hans Sachs, the famous cobbler meistersinger, defeats his rival, Beckmesser, and wins the girl. The play is indirectly a satire on Wagner's critics, the old and pedantic Beckmesser typifying the worst elements of musical conservatism, while Walter represents Wagner himself. See Meistersinger.