from Act II of the German opera
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Richard Wagner
Libretto: Richard Wagner
Role: Sixtus Beckmesser, town clerk
Voice Part: baritone Fach: buffo bass
Setting: a square in Nuremburg, Germany, mid-sixteenth century
Synopsis: Beckmesser is practicing his florid and unartistic song for the song contest the next day. Sachs offers to mark time for Beckmesser with his hammer but instead only marks when he thinks Beckmesser's song has gone awry. This makes Beckmesser fairly angry.