Heinrich Scheidemann
was one of the most important organists
and composers of organ music in the
north of Germany in the 17th century.
From 1611 to 1614 he studied with Jan
Pieterszoon Sweelinck in Amsterdam,
who was the teacher of many more German
organists. Scheidemann must have been
one of his favourite pupils: when Scheidemann
left Amsterdam Sweelinck wrote a canon
for him.
In the late 1620s he
succeeded his father as organist at
the Catharinenkirche in Hamburg. He
became a renowned organ teacher himself.
One of his pupils was Jan Adam Reinken,
who became famous for his chorale variations
and whose music has influenced Johann
Sebastian Bach.
Many organs in North
Germany in Scheidemann's time were pretty
sizeable. After an enlargement during
his time as organist at the Catharinenkirche
Scheidemann had four manuals, pedals
and 56 stops at his disposal. Organs
like this enabled the organist to use
the different divisions of the organ
to distinguish the sections of a piece
from each other. This practice was used
for example in pieces like 'Praeludium'
and 'Praeambulum'. Three of this kind
of works are played here, and it is
a shame the sections are treated not
very differently, both in registration
and interpretation.
German composers of
the 17th century held the classical
polyphony of the 16th century in high
esteem. This is reflected by Scheidemann's
12 intavolations - with added ornamentation
- of motets, mostly by three late 16th
century composers: Lassus, Hieronymus
Praetorius and Hans-Leo Hassler. Two
of Lassus' motets can be heard here:
'Benedicam Domino', a motet in two parts,
and 'De ore prudentis procedit mel'.
It is not quite clear which function
these intavolations had. Perhaps we
have to consider them as mere tributes
to the composers, perhaps they were
used as study material for the art of
ornamentation.
This art is amply displayed
in the chorale arrangements recorded
here. In these Scheidemann followed
the example of his teacher Sweelinck.
Most arrangements on this disc consist
of two or more 'versus', which allow
the composer to treat the chorale melody
differently every time. Sometimes it
appears in the upper part, sometimes
in the tenor or the bass. In some instances
it is played in straight form, in other
cases heavily ornamented. And in 'O
Gott, wir danken deiner Güt' the
chorale melody is split into two halves,
with different metres in each of them.
Scheidemann also composed
8 Magnificat-settings in the eight psalm
tones. It seems they were composed as
'alternatim' settings. Apparently the
verses Scheidemann composed were to
replace the voices in the verses 3,
5, 7 and 9. It is disappointing that
the other verses are not sung here and
that the opportunity to put these Magnificat-settings
in their proper liturgical context has
been missed.
In a way this is a
feature of this recording. There is
nothing really wrong with it, but it
just leaves something to be desired.
The articulation is basically non-legato,
which is historically correct, but here
it is a little stereotypical. I would
like to hear more differentiation in
the articulation. Sometimes the 'gap'
between two notes could be wider, by
making the first note shorter. Some
transitional passages get a little too
much attention. After all not every
note is equally important.
The organ used here
was built in 1976. It doesn't seem to
be a 'copy' of some historical organ,
but it is built according to historical
principles. That is also reflected by
the use of an unequal temperament. It
is developed by Herbert Anton Kellner,
pretending to be a temperament which
does justice to the one Bach knew. Apart
from the speculative character of this
temperament, I don’t think this is the
most appropriate for the music of Scheidemann.
I would strongly prefer a kind of mean-tone
temperament, which was in vogue in the
17th century in Germany. In that case
the chromaticism in the Praeambulum
in g minor, for instance, would have
come across much stronger than is the
case here.
The booklet contains
informative liner notes by Keith Anderson,
and the disposition of the organ. I
regret that the registration of the
individual pieces hasn't been added.
And since composers like Scheidemann
were aiming at expressing the text of
vocal pieces in their organ arrangements
I strongly advocate the printing of
those texts. They are sorely missed
in most recordings of organ music, this
one included.
Johan van Veen