68 Milton D. Baumgartner 



ing deep emotions of religion, patriotism, and love, even though 

 often bordering on sentimentality, furthered this movement of 

 poetical enthusiasm which culminated in the theories set up by 

 Herder, that the folk-songs contained the highest poetical elements 

 of all poetry, since they express the genuine national feelings and 

 emotions of a people, even if such poetry belong in the category of 

 occasional poetry to which the Saint Cecelia odes belonged.^' In 

 1778 Herder, influenced by Percy's Reliqiies, made his collection 

 of Stimmen der Volker to prove his theories in regard to folk- 

 songs. 



With the growth of poetical enthusiasm in Germany, the awak- 

 ening of musical interest went hand in hand, directly increasing 

 the appreciation of Handel's compositions for Alexander's Feast 

 and indirectly the appreciation for the ode itself as a lyric. Natu- 

 rally the folk-songs were written to be sung and not read, and 

 spread among the masses. Ramler's interest in this popular move- 

 ment is evident from the number of " Kriegslieder " and cantatas 

 he himself wrote, and from the collection and edition of the two 

 volumes of German songs published in 1758 with the aid of 

 Krause, a composer of considerable note, the author of a book on 

 musical poetry, and the reviser of Handel's composition for Alex- 

 ander's Feast}^ 



The revival of the popular song was accompanied with the re- 

 vival of the operetta which came in vogue through Weisse's " Sing- 

 spiele," set to music by Hiller. Although the former was not a 

 great opera writer nor the latter a really great composer, the oper- 

 ettas resulting from their combined efforts became extremely pop- 

 ular and opened the way for better operas and more classical music, 



I''' In England the movement for the collection of old songs and ballads 

 was begun by Dryden, Dorset, and others, and culminated in Bishop 

 Percy's Reliques (1765). The Spectator [no. 71] commended the move- 

 ment, and Hagedorn and Herder attributed to it the great lyrical poetry of 

 the English. For Hagedorn, see his introduction to Odcn und Lieder in 

 fiinf Biichern, Hamburg, 1747; for Herder, see his chapter "Von der 

 Aehnlichkeit der mittlern englischen und deutschen Dichtkunst," first 

 published in the Deutschen Museum (1777). 



18 See Ramler's biography appended to his Poetischen Werken, H, 314. 

 Berlin, 1801. 



