Samuel Scheidt was
one of the great musical personalities
in Protestant Germany in the first half
of the 17th century. Most of his lifetime
he spent in Halle, where he was also
born. He started his musical career
as an organist, and went to Amsterdam
to study with Sweelinck. His influence
is most noteworthy in the three volumes
with keyboard music, published in 1624
under the title 'Tabulatura Nova'. In
1619 or 1620 he was appointed Kapellmeister
at the court of Margrave Christian Wilhelm
of Brandenburg as successor to the English-born
William Brade, who was an important
composer of instrumental music in Northern
Germany. And Scheidt's instrumental
pieces, published in four volumes under
the title 'Ludi Musici' from 1621 to
1627, show his influence.
Unfortunately the collection
Ludi Musici hasn't been preserved completely.
Volume 1 is complete, but volume 3 is
lost. This disc mainly offers pieces
from the second and fourth volumes,
of which only some parts have been preserved.
The missing parts have been reconstructed
by Roland Wilson. In the booklet he
explains how he has been able to do
that. His efforts should be greatly
appreciated as the music recorded here
impressively shows Scheidt's brilliance
in composing instrumental music.
The most astonishing
pieces are the paduans scored for four
low instruments with basso continuo.
It is interesting to quote Roland Wilson
here: "The clefs of the LM II pavanes,
recognizable from the surviving continuo
part, are usually tenor, baritone, bass
and sub-bass, which makes for extremely
dense texture. If I had not had access
to the complete manuscript version of
the canzon for 4 low instruments I would
not have dared to write such close harmonies.
It is always apparent, not just in this
respect, that Scheidt thinks as an organist;
to him the four low instruments were
simply a 16 foot stop in the organ and
in practice the high harmonic content
of historical instruments makes it possible.
The use of four low instruments emphasizes
the solemn, expressive character which
is typical of all Scheidt's pavanes."
This is reflected in pieces like the
VII Paduana (track 2) played here with
2 viols, violone and contra-bass and
the Paduan Dolorosa (track 10) played
with four trombones. The Paduan à
4 (track 13) is also remarkable here
played with four dulcians. They produce
a gorgeous sound.
The disc contains three
pieces which have been found elsewhere
and were probably originally part of
the third volume. The 'Echo' (track
12), a canzona in two choirs, also appears
as an organ transcription in the second
part of the Tabulatura Nova. The last
piece, the 7-part canzon on the hymn
'An Wasserflüssen Babylon' has
been reconstructed on the basis of an
organ version, reduced to 4 parts, attributed
to Scheidt in the organ book of Daniel
Schmidt, which - like the other two
pieces - is preserved in the Staatsbibliothek
Berlin.
Although these pieces
are formally dance music they are not
meant to be danced to, but rather to
be played at festive occasions and during
dinner. And they are definitely not
part of the popular culture: this is
music written for use at court. The
instrumentation suggested by Scheidt
- mostly viole da gamba - also points
in that direction. That doesn't mean
other instruments are inappropriate:
composers seldom specifically prescribed
what instruments should be used. Musica
Fiata uses a wide range of string and
wind instruments, including trumpets,
(muted) cornetts, trombones and dulcians,
violins, viole da gamba, violone and
contra-bass, with plucked and keyboard
instruments for the basso continuo part.
The programme is put together in such
a way that there is as much variety
as possible in character and scoring.
Lively dances like courantes and galliards
alternate with the more solemn pavanes.
This is a delightful
recording of some of the best instrumental
music written in Germany in the first
half of the 17th century. Musica Fiata
gives wonderfully energetic and inspired
performances. And the beautiful instruments
used here have been recorded brilliantly
by the recording engineer.
Johan van Veen
Musica Fiata/Roland Wilson 
for details 
