Danielle Buschinger summarises the genesis of the work and lists its various sources: Hans Sachs’s poems, his biography, the modern reception after Goethe, Wagenseil’s book (1697) and an essay by Jacob Grimm on the Meistersang. With the help of a song by Sachs, she illustrates the structure of a Meisterlied as the basis of Stolzing’s Preislied. Wagner found his information on the mastersingers’ art, the organisation of their “schools,” etc., in Wagenseil. The libretto combines elements from a short story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, Meister Martin der Küfner und seine Gesellen, from Deinhardstein’s play and from Lortzing’s opera. In Hoffmann, Wagner also found the romantic image of Nuremberg. As a conclusion, the author emphasises that The Mastersingers are a bittersweet epilogue to Tristan, in the same way that they are a “heiteres Satyrspiel” to Tannhäuser.
