German Meistersinger. By trade a shoemaker, he was the chief exponent of Nürnberg Meistergesang. He provided tunes for stage productions in the 1550s, and was master of a song-school in 155561. By 1567 he had devised several thousand songs from 301 'tones' (standard melodies), some of which he had invented himself; these fell into sacred, secular and dramatic categories. A fertile poet, he wrote an allegorical work in support of Luther. His melodies, though perhaps somewhat stilted, are unusual for their melismas at the beginnings and ends of lines.