mastered the Tabulatur was termed a "scholar;" the one
who had thoroughly learned it, a "schoolman;" the one who could
improvise verses, a "poet;" and the one who could set music to his
verses, a "mastersinger." In the test there were thirty-three faults
to be guarded against; and whenever the marker had chalked up seven
against the candidate, he was declared to have oversung himself and
lost the coveted honor.

The vorspiel is a vivid delineation of mediaeval German life, full of
festive pomp, stirring action, glowing passion, and exuberant humor.
The first act opens in the Church of St. Katherine, at Nuremberg, with
the singing of a chorale to organ accompaniment. During the chorale
and its interludes a quiet love-scene is being enacted between Eva,
daughter of the wealthy goldsmith Veit Pogner, and Walter von
Stolzing, a noble young knight. The attraction is mutual. Eva is ready
to become his bride, but it is necessary that her husband should be a
mastersinger. Rather than give up the hand of the fair Eva, Walter,
short as the time is, determines to master the precepts and enter the
lists. As Eva and her attendant, Magdalena, leave the church, the
apprentices enter to arrange for the trial, among them David, the
friskiest of them all, who is in love with Magdalena. He volunteers to
give Walter some instructions, but they do not avail him much in the
end, for the lesson is sadly disturbed by the gibes of the boys, in a
scene full of musical humor. At last Pogner and Beckmesser, the
marker, who is also a competitor for Eva's hand, enter from the
sacristy. After a long dialogue between them the other masters
assemble, Hans Sachs, the cobbler-bard, coming in last. After calling
the roll, the ceremonies open with a pompous address by Pogner ("Das
schoene Fest, Johannis-Tag"), in which he promises the hand of Eva,
"with my gold and goods beside," to the successful singer on the
morrow, which is John the Baptist's Day. After a long parley among the
gossiping masters, Pogner introduces Walter as a candidate for
election. He sings a charming song ("So rief der Lenz in den Wald"),
and as he sings, the marker, concealed behind a screen, is heard
scoring down the faults. When he displays the slate it is found to be
covered with them. The masters declare him outsung and rejected, but
Hans Sachs befriends him, and demands he shall have a chance for the
prize.

The second act discloses Pogner's house and Sachs's shop. The
appre