(Ger.: ‘song-table’).
Originally a small group of poets, singers and composers that came together to perform partsongs in an informal setting. The term was coined by Zelter, at whose instigation the first group was formed in Berlin on 21 December 1808 from his celebrated larger Singakademie. Its inaugural meeting was held on 24 January 1809. As Zelter explained in a famous letter to Goethe, the 25 members of the Liedertafel would meet together over a meal, and German partsongs would be performed. Original compositions were strongly encouraged: those whose contributions were well received would receive a medallion and have their health drunk, while the most successful would be crowned with a wreath by the ‘Meister’ (the 25th member) who presided over the evening’s entertainment.
The Liedertafel’s convivial atmosphere disguised a higher purpose: to advance the cause of German song and poetry. In this respect, it harked back to the medieval guilds of Meistersinger, while there was also some similarity to the musical gatherings that had been a feature of late 18th-century Freemasonry. Zelter’s lead was soon followed, and Liedertafel sprang up throughout Germany: in Frankfurt an der Oder (1815), Leipzig (1815), Thüringen (1818), Magdeburg (1819), Münster (1822), Hamburg (1823), Minden (1824), Bremen (1827) and Bielefeld (1831). In 1819 the Jüngere Berliner Liedertafel was founded by Klein and Berger, seeking a wider membership than its older relation.
A second strand in the Liedertafel tradition was initiated by H.G. Nägeli, who in 1810 founded a male singing society in Zürich to support the pedagogical ideals of Pestalozzi. His example inspired Kocher’s Sonntag-Abend Gesellschaft in Stuttgart in 1824, which in turn led to similar groups in Ulm (1825), Munich (1826), Frankfurt (1828), Schweinfurt (1833) and elsewhere. These generally eschewed the name ‘Liedertafel’ in favour of ‘Liederkranz’ (‘song circle’), to stress their larger and less exclusive membership. During the latter 19th century, both terms gave way to ‘Männergesangverein’ as larger singing clubs were established in such cities as Vienna and Cologne. The term Liedertafel was subsequently applied to society gatherings at which selected members of the Männergesangverein performed for their invited guests.
E. Krüger: ‘Ueber Liedertafeln’, NZM, xi (1839), 138–43
P. Greverus: Ueber Liedertafeln und Liederfeste (Oldenburg, 1844)
W. Bornemann: Die Zeltersche Liedertafel in Berlin, ihre Entstehung, Stiftung und Fortgang (Berlin, 1851)
H. Kuhlo: Geschichte des Zelterschen Liedertafels (Berlin, 1909)
H. Dietel: Beiträge zur Frühgeschichte des Männergesanges (diss., U. of Berlin, 1938)
P. Nitsche: ‘Die Liedertafel im System der Zelterschaen Gründungen’, Studien zur Musikgeschichte Berlins im frühen 19. Jahrhundert, ed. C. Dahlhaus (Regensburg, 1980), 11–26
A. Heemann: Männergesangvereine im 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhunderte (Frankfurt, 1991)
EWAN WEST