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Abstract
The Musenalmanach was an annual literary journal that flourished from the last quarter of the eighteenth century. It consisted mostly of new poetry by various poets, but also significantly included 5-10 new musical compositions by many composers such as Gluck, C. Ph. E. Bach, J. F. Reichardt, J. A. P. Schulz, Mozart and Beethoven. Most of the musical insertions are lieder.
Five Musenalmanache and one Taschenbuch were selected from numerous publications with special regard to the literary importance of each publication and the quality of the musical insertions: Gottinger, Vossischer, Wiener, Schwabische, Schillersche Musenalmanache, and Taschenbuch zum geselligen Vergnugen. Several aspects related to the Musenalmanache are examined: the development of the Musenalmanach as a new literary genre, its influence on the dissemination of new types of lieder, the role of a Musenalmanach editor in the creation of the Musenalmanach songs (the relationships between editors, poets, and composers), the importance of the middle class as the new emerging Musenalmanach readership, the performance practice of Musenalmanach songs, and different types of Musenalmanach songs together with their representative composers.
The Musenalmanach provided poets and composers with a forum for experimentation where the various types of songs began to diversify in various directions: the lied im empfindsamen Stil, the volkstumliche lied, the Gesellschaftslied, the Kunstlied, and the popular lied. The development of poetry fostered the development of songs. In the 1770s and 1780s, the Musenalmanach songs led the development of songs, but from the 1790s the Musenalmanach gradually fell out of step with the times, and around 1800 lost its significance as a leader in the dissemination of new songs and poetry.
