A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Scheidt, Samuel
SCHEIDT, Samuel, one of the celebrated three S.'s (the other two being Heinrich Schütz and Hermann Schein, his contemporaries), the best German organist of his time, was born at Halle in 1587. His father, Conrad Scheidt, was master or overseer of salt-works at Halle. The family must have been musical, as some works are still preserved of Gottfried, Samuel's brother, which A. G. Ritter ('Geschichte der Orgelmusik ') says show considerable musical ability. Samuel owed his training as an organist to the then famous 'Organisten-macher' Peter Sweelinck of Amsterdam. At what date he betook himself to Amsterdam, and how long he remained a pupil of Sweelinck, is not precisely ascertained. In 1620 at least, if not earlier, he was back in his native town, and had received the appointment of organist and capellmeister to Christian Wilhelm, Markgraf of Brandenburg, and then Protestant Administrator of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. In this capacity Scheidt officiated as organist not at Magdeburg, but in the Hof-kirche at Halle. The troubles of the Thirty Years War and the misfortunes of his patron, the siege and sack of Magdeburg in 1631, and the abdication of Christian Wilhelm in 1638, seem to have made no difference to Scheidt's official position at Halle, though his income and means of living may have suffered. We have no record as to his personal relations with Christian's successors in the administration of the Magdeburg archbishopric, but Chrysander in the 'Jahrbücher für musikalische Wissenschaft,' i. p. 158, prints a letter from Scheidt to Duke Augustus of Brunswick in 1642, which seems to imply that he was then looking for some patronage or assistance from that art-loving prince. Scheidt never left Halle however, and his circumstances may have improved, as in his will he bequeathed some money for the sake of the organ in the St. Moritz-kirche at Halle. He died at the age of 67 on March 14, 1654.
Scheldt's first published work appeared at Hamburg in 1620 ('Cantiones Sacrae octo vocum'), and consists of 39 vocal compositions, 15 of which are settings of Lutheran chorales. His fame however rests not on his vocal compositions, but on his works for the organ. His next work, also published at Hamburg in 1624, is considered epoch-making in the history of organ music. It consists of three parts, but the whole work bears the general title 'Tabulatura Nova'; the same title, indeed, as many earlier works of the same kind in Germany (e.g. Ammerbach, 1571; B. Schmid, 1577; Paix, 1583; Woltz, 1617), from all of which, however, it differs widely both in aim and style, and indeed marks the beginning of a new and better treatment of the organ both with regard to playing and to composition. From 1570 to about 1620, organ playing in Germany almost entirely consisted in what was known as the art of 'koloriren,' the art of 'colouring' melodies sacred or secular by the inserting of meaningless passages, all framed on one and the same pattern, between each note or chord of the melody. These earlier Tablaturebooks were all compiled simply to teach this purely mechanical art of 'colouring' melodies for the organ. The music was written in the so-called German Tablature, i.e. with letters instead of notes.[1] (For a full account of these German 'Coloristen'[2] of the 16th and 17th centuries, see A. G. Ritter's 'Geschichte der Orgelmusik,' pp. 111–139.) Scheidt's 'Tabulatura Nova' put an end to this miserable style of playing and composing for the organ, as well as to the old German Tablature. The music in his book is noted in score of four staves, with five lines to the stave, so far differing from the notation both of Frescobaldi and Sweelinck, the former using two staves of six and eight lines respectively, the latter two staves both of six lines. To give an idea of the contents of Scheldt's work, we transcribe in full the separate titles of the three parts:—
I. Tabulatura Nova, continens variationes aliquot Psalmorum, Fantasiarum, Cantilenarum, Passamezzo et Canones aliquot: in gratiam Organistorum adornata a Samuele Scheidt Hallense, Reverendiss. Illustrissimique Principes ac Domine Christiani Gulielmi Archiepiscopi Magdeburgensis, Primatis Germaniae Organista et Capellae Magistro. Hamburg! … mdcxxiv.
II. Pars Secunda … continens Fugarum, Psalmorum, Cantionum et Echos Tocatae variationes varias ao omnimodas. Pro quorumvis Organistarum captu et modulo.…
III. Tertia et ultima pars, continens Kyrie Dominicale. Credo in unum Deum, Psalmum de Coena Domini sub Communione, Hymnos praecipuorum Festorum totius anni, Magnificat 1–9 toni, modum ludendi pleno Organo et Benedicamus … In gratiam Organistarum, praecipue eorum qui musice pure et absque celerrimis coloraturis Organo ludere gaudent …
The last words mark an important difference between the third part and the two preceding. In the first two parts the composer appears to wish to show how he could beat the 'Colourists' on their own ground, his figures and passages however not being like theirs, absolutely meaningless and void of invention, but new and varied, and having an organic connection with the whole composition to which they belong. He shows himself still as virtuoso, desirous to extend the technique of organ-playing, while at the same time displaying his contrapuntal mastery. So far as technique is concerned, there is to be noticed in Scheidt the extended use of the pedal, so different from Frescobaldi's occasional use of it for single notes merely, also the imitation of orchestral effects, such as what he himself terms 'imitatio violistica,' the imitation of the effects of the different ways of bowing on the violin, and the imitation of an organ tremulant itself by the rapid interchange of the fingers of the two hands on one and the same key ('Bicinium imitatione tremula organi duobus digitis in una tantum clave manu tum dextra, tum sinistra'). The first two parts contain a mixture of sacred and secular pieces, the secular pieces however being marked off as for domestic rather than for church use by the absence of a pedal part. The sacred pieces consist of ten fantasias or sets of variations on chorale melodies, with a few fugues or fantasias on another motive, among which is a 'fantasia fuga quadruplici,' on a madrigal of Palestrina's, which Ritter describes as a masterpiece of contrapuntal art, four subjects from the madrigal being treated first singly and then together, and with contrary motion and other devices. The secular pieces consist chiefly of variations on secular melodies, among which appears one entitled an English song 'de fortuna.' The third part of the 'Tabulatura Nova' stands however on a higher level than the first two. The composer expressly renounces the virtuoso; he writes, as the title-page says, for those who delight to play the organ purely musically, and without mere ornamental and passage work. In this third part he gives very full directions with regard to registering both for manuals and pedal. It is intended entirely for church use, and both by the choice of pieces, and the manner in which they are arranged, it gives us an insight into the way in which the organ was very frequently employed in the church services of those days. It was not then generally used to accompany or sustain the voices of the choir or congregation, but rather to alternate with them. Thus, for instance, between each verse of the 'Magnificat' sung by the choir without accompaniment, the organ would come in independently with some variation or changing harmonies on the plainsong melody. A further use of the organ was even to take the place of the choir in making the responses to the ecclesiastical intonations of the officiating clergy when there was no proper choir to do this. Frescobaldi's works (especially 'Fiori Musicali,' 1635) furnish instances of this use of the organ in the Roman Church. Thus when the priest had intoned the Kyrie of the Mass, in the absence of a proper choir, the organist would answer, as Ambros expresses it, when speaking of Frescobaldi's works of the kind, 'with a kind of artistically-ennobling and enriching echo' ('mit einer Art von künstlerisch-veredelnden und bereichernden Echo'), that is to say, the organist, taking up the plain-song theme, would not just harmonize it note by note, but treat it in the form of a short polyphonic composition for the organ. (See the quotations from Frescobaldi in Ambros's 'Geschichte der Musik,' iv. pp. 444–450.) The third part of Scheldt's 'Tabulatura' shows that this usage was not confined to the Roman Church, but was also retained for a considerable time in the Lutheran. It opens with twelve short movements based on the plain-song of the different sections of the Kyrie and Gloria of the Mass, and the remark, or rubric, as we might call it, 'Gloria canit Pastor,' shows that they were expressly intended as responses made by the organ to the intonation of officiating clergy. The Magnificat follows, in all the church tones, one verse sung by the ecclesiastic and every alternate verse arranged to be played by the organ in lieu of a choir. This way of treating the Magnificat prevailed in Lutheran Churches even up to Pachelbel's time (1706), though the plain-song was more and more put into the background, and the practice became simply an excuse for interludes on any motive. After the Magnificat came a series of hymns common to both Roman and Lutheran Churches, with their plain-song melodies treated in a similar fashion. The book further contains Luther's version of the Creed ('Wir glauben All, an einen Gott') with its Doric melody, John Huss's Communion Hymn, arranged to be played instead of being sung during Communion. The two last pieces in the book are 6-part movements for the full organ, meant to be played at the end of Vespers. Interwoven with the last is the liturgical melody of the Benedicamus. In all these compositions Scheidt has faithfully adhered to the original plain-song melodies when they appear as Cantus Firmus, but in the further working out has not been content simply to harmonize them according to the laws of the Church modes, but has so far altered them in accordance with the new ideas of harmony then beginning to make way. But there is still wanting in him a consistent system of modulation. The chromatic semitones are still employed by him rather in a hap-hazard sort of way.
Twenty-six years later, viz. in 1650, Scheidt published another work for the organ, his second and last, which shows a different conception as to the use of the organ in the services of the Church, and probably marks a change which was then going on gradually in the practice of the Lutheran Church. The congregational singing of metrical hymns was gradually superseding the older liturgical music, and the organ had more and more to surrender its independence to accommodate itself to the simple accompaniment in 4-part harmony of the melodies of these hymns, which now began to assume exclusively the name of Choral-musik. This, which was at first a loss, became in time a gain, as it deepened the sense of the value of harmony for its own sake; and besides, out of this originated the new art-form of the Choral-Vorspiel of later days. Scheidt's last organ work was intended to meet the new requirements. Its title sufficiently explains its object: 'Tabulatur-buch 100 geistlicher Lieder u. Psalmen D. Martini Lutheri und anderer gottseliger Männer für die Herren Organisten mit der Christlichen Kirchen u. Gemeine auf der Orgel, desgleichen auch zu Hause zu spielen u. zu singen, auf alle Fest-u. Sonn-tage durchs ganze Jahr mit 4 Stimmen componirt … Gedruckt zu Gorlitz … im. 1650 Jahr.' This work is dedicated to the Magistrates and Town Council of Görlitz, and the composer seems to imply that it had been undertaken at their special desire. In this, as in his previous work, there is noticeable, as Ritter points out, the same undecided struggle in the composer's mind between attachment to the old and inclination to the new. Thus, while he strictly adheres to the original rhythms of the old melodies, he harmonizes according to the rules of modern musical accent, and thus the rhythm of the melody is not in agreement with the rhythm implied by the harmony. See for illustration his setting of 'Ein' feste Burg' in Ritter, 'Geschichte der Orgel-Musik,' p. 19, the first two bars of which may here be given:—
One chorale appears in this book for the first time, viz. 'O Jesulein süss, O Jesulein mild,' which has been adapted in later chorale books to the words 'O heiliger Geist, heiliger Gott.' As harmonized bv Scheidt it is given in Winterfeld 'Ev. K. G.,' ii. No. 218, and Schöberlein, 'Schatz des Chorgesangs,' ii. No. 457.
If it is his organ works that now entitle Scheidt to honourable remembrance and give him a distinct position of his own amongst composers, it was not his organ works, but his vocal compositions, that procured him the esteem of his contemporaries, and caused him to be ranked as one of the celebrated three S.'s. Of his vocal works, besides the 'Sacrae Cantiones' of 1620, mentioned above, there are mentioned 'Liebliche Kraft-Blümlein conzertweise mit 2 Stimmen und General-Basse,' Halle 1625; 'Geistliche Concerten mit 2 und 3 Stimmen, etc., 4 parts,' Leipzig, 1631. Another instrumental work should also be recorded, more for the clavier than the organ, 'Ludorum musicorum prima et secunda pais, 1623.'
It is natural to draw comparisons, as Ritter does in his 'History of Organ Music,' between Scheidt and Frescobaldi, whose lives covered nearly the same period of time, and who may both be regarded as the true founders of modern organ music, or rather, the Italian of clavier music generally, the German of specifically organ music. Of the two, Frescobaldi is the greater genius, showing greater force of imagination in the invention of new forms and the solution of difficult problems; Scheidt is more laborious and painstaking, showing greater study of the capabilities of his instrument, as, for instance, in the use of the pedal, and in registering generally, with neither of which did Frescobaldi concern himself. As Ritter points out, while Scheidt has thus greater command of all the resources of expression, Frescobaldi has mors of real poetic expression in his music itself. For more detailed comparison of the two masters it will be sufficient to refer to Ritter's work.