The Contest of the Singers by E. T. A. Hoffmann. Short summary

5 seconds

Henry is in love with Matilda. To win the girl’s heart, he makes a pact with the devil. But at a singing competition, the young man loses to Wolfram, Matilda’s lover.

1 minute

Wolfram is a talented young singer with whom Matilda is in love, and it is mutual. The young man visits his friend Heinrich in a psychiatric hospital, who has been put there because of a strange illness caused by an unhappy love affair with Matilda. When he gets better, he takes a walk in the night woods. There the young man meets the devil, who first mocks him and then shows him how to get the girl.

When Henry returns back after a long absence, he easily wins over Matilda. Moreover, the girl takes singing and poetry lessons from the young man.

At a singing competition, the lot turns Wolfram into Henry’s opponent. Wolfram wins the contest. Matilda falls in love with the talented singer once more. Heinrich, on the other hand, vanishes into thin air after his defeat. He appears far away, and in written correspondence he reconciles with Wolfram once more.