German

Abstract Since the Catalogue includes all known German polyphonic song up to 1480, including the very earliest examples, this chapter exceptionally summarizes what is known of the oldest German polyphonic song including the works of the Monk of Salzburg, who was certainly active in the fourteenth century even though all the main sources of his music are from the mid-fifteenth century. This and the activity of Oswald von Wolkenstein combine to show how much foreign music was known in fifteenth-century German lands, apparently most of it from Flemish sources. That provides a background for exploring the early history of the German Tenorlied, showing that the style took hold only very slowly but leading to a discussion of one of the key songs in that history, Elend du has umbfangen mich, attempting to show that it is indeed a German song.