View source for Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck

{{short description|Dutch Renaissance composer}}
{{Infobox classical composer
| name             = Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
| image            = Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck.png
| image_size       = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = Portrait of Sweelinck from 1606 <ref>{{cite web | title=RKD Research | url=https://research.rkd.nl/en/detail/https%3A%2f%2fdata.rkd.nl%2fimages%2f39519 }}</ref>
| birth_name       = <!-- Use only if different from name in title. -->
| birth_date       = April or May {{Birth year|1562}}
| birth_place      = [[Deventer]], [[Netherlands]]
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1621|10|16|1562|5|df=yes}}
| death_place      = [[Amsterdam]], Netherlands
| occupations      = [[Composer]], [[organist]], [[pedagogue]]
| era              = [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]], [[Baroque music|Baroque]]
| known_for        = <!-- For pre-modern subjects, can be used as an alternative to the anachronistic "occupation"; not used for works (see next parameter). -->
| list_of_works    = <!-- Link to "List of works" subarticle here. Do not list individual pieces. -->
| spouse           = {{marriage|Claesgen Dircxdochter Puyner|1590}}
| partner          = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) -->
| children         =
| parents          = <!-- overrides mother and father parameters -->
| notable_family   = <!-- e.g. [[Bach family]], [[Mozart family]], etc. Include only those with "family" articles. -->
}}

'''Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|j|ɑː|n|_|ˈ|p|iː|t|ər|s|oʊ|n|_|ˈ|s|w|eɪ|l|ɪ|ŋ|k}} {{respell|YAHN|_|PEE|tər|sohn|_|SWAY|link}};<ref>[http://www.heardutchhere.net/vermeer.html Dutch pronunciation]</ref> (April or May, 1562 &ndash; 16 October 1621) was a Dutch [[composer]], [[organist]], and [[pedagogue]] whose work straddled the end of the [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]] and beginning of the [[Baroque music|Baroque]] eras. He was among the first major [[Keyboard instrument|keyboard]] composers of Europe, and his work as a teacher helped establish the [[German organ schools|north German organ tradition]].

==Life==
Sweelinck was born in [[Deventer]], [[Netherlands]], in April or May 1562. He was the eldest son of [[organist]] Peter (or Pieter<ref>{{cite book |title=The New Oxford companion to music |volume=2 |editor=Denis Arnold |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1983}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=King of instruments: a history of the organ |page=161 |author=Bernard Sonnaillon |publisher=Rizzoli |year=1985 |isbn=0-8478-0582-4}}</ref>) Swybbertszoon and Elske Jansdochter Sweeling, daughter of a surgeon.<ref>Stephen Westrop, liner notes for "[[Christopher Herrick]]: Sweelinck: Organ Music", Hyperion CDA67421/2</ref> Soon after Sweelinck's birth, the family moved to [[Amsterdam]], where from about 1564, Pieter Swybbertszoon served as organist of the [[Oude Kerk, Amsterdam|Oude Kerk]] (Sweelinck's paternal grandfather and uncle also were organists).<ref name="Sadie406-7">Sadie, Stanley. 1980. "[https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.27206 Sweelinck &#91;Swelinck, Zwelinck, Sweeling, Sweelingh, Sweling, Swelingh&#93;, Jan Pieterszoon]" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. Vol.8. Macmillan Publishers Limited, London. Pg. 406–407</ref> Jan Pieterszoon must have received first lessons in music from his father. Unfortunately, his father died in 1573. He subsequently received general education under Jacob Buyck,<ref name="ReferenceA">Randall H. Tollefsen, Pieter Dirksen. "Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy</ref> [[Catholic]] [[pastor]] of the Oude Kerk (these lessons stopped in 1578 after the Reformation of Amsterdam and the subsequent conversion to [[Calvinism]];<ref name="Sadie406-7"/> Buyck chose to leave the city). Little is known about his music education after the death of his father; his music teachers may have included Jan Willemszoon Lossy, a little-known [[countertenor]] and [[shawm]] player at [[Haarlem]],<ref name="Sadie406-7"/> and/or Cornelis Boskoop, Sweelinck's father's successor at the Oude Kerk.<ref name="Sadie406-7"/> If Sweelinck indeed studied in Haarlem, he was probably influenced to some degree by the organists of [[Sint-Bavokerk|St.-Bavokerk]], Claas Albrechtszoon van Wieringen and Floris van Adrichem, both of whom improvised daily in the Bavokerk.<ref name="Sadie406-7"/>

[[Image:Okerk2.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Oude Kerk, the Amsterdam church where Sweelinck worked almost his entire life.]]

According to Cornelis Plemp, a pupil and friend of Sweelinck's, he started his 44-year career as organist of the [[Oude Kerk, Amsterdam|Oude Kerk]] in 1577, when he was 15.<ref name="Sadie406-7"/> This date, however, is uncertain, because the church records from 1577 to 1580 are missing and Sweelinck can only be traced in Oude Kerk from 1580 onwards; he occupied the post for the rest of his life.<ref name="Sadie406-7"/> Sweelinck's widowed mother died in 1585, and Jan Pieterszoon took responsibility for his younger brother and sister. His salary of 100 florins was doubled the next year, presumably to help matters. In addition, he was offered an additional 100 guilders<ref name="noske10">Noske, Frits. 1988. ''Oxford Studies of Composers'', vol. 22: Sweelinck. Oxford England: Oxford University Press. Pg. 10</ref> in the event that he married, which happened in 1590 when he married Claesgen Dircxdochter Puyner from [[Medemblik]].<ref name="Sadie406-7"/> He was also offered the choice between a further 100 guilders and free accommodations in a house belonging to the town, the latter of which he chose.<ref name="noske10"/> Sweelinck's first published works date from around 1592–94: three volumes of chansons, the last of which is the only remaining volume published in 1594<ref>Noske, Frits. 1988. ''Oxford Studies of Composers'', vol. 22: Sweelinck. Oxford England: Oxford University Press. Pg. 12</ref> (for reasons that are not certain, the composer adopted his mother's last name; "Sweelinck" first appears on the title-page of the 1594 publication).<ref name="Sadie406-7"/> Sweelinck then set to publishing psalm settings, aiming to set the entire Psalter. These works appeared in four large volumes published in 1604, 1613, 1614 and 1621. The last volume was published posthumously and, presumably, in unfinished form. Sweelinck died of unknown causes on 16 October 1621<ref>Noske, Frits. 1988. ''Oxford Studies of Composers'', vol. 22: Sweelinck. Oxford England: Oxford University Press. Pg. 17</ref> and was buried in the [[Oude Kerk (Amsterdam)|Oude Kerk]]. He was survived by his wife and five of their six children; the eldest of them, Dirck Janszoon, succeeded his father as organist of the Oude Kerk.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

The composer most probably spent his entire life in Amsterdam, only occasionally visiting other cities in connection with his professional activities: he was asked to inspect organs, give opinions and advice on organ building and restoration, etc. These duties resulted in short visits to [[Delft]], [[Dordrecht]] (1614), [[Enkhuizen]], [[Haarlem]] (1594), [[Harderwijk]] (1608), [[Middelburg, Zeeland|Middelburg]] (1603), [[Nijmegen]] (1605), [[Rotterdam]] (1610), [[Rhenen]] (1616), as well as [[Deventer]], his birthplace (1595, 1616).<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Sweelinck's longest voyage was to [[Antwerp]] in 1604, when he was commissioned by the Amsterdam authorities to buy a [[harpsichord]] for the city. No documentary evidence has turned up to support the tradition, going back to [[Johann Mattheson|Mattheson]], that Sweelinck visited [[Venice]]&nbsp;– perhaps a confusion with his brother, the painter [[Gerrit Pietersz Sweelink]], who did&nbsp;– and similarly there is no evidence that he ever crossed the English Channel, although copies of his music did such as the pieces included in the ''[[Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]].'' His popularity as a composer, performer and teacher increased steadily during his lifetime. Contemporaries nicknamed him ''[[Orpheus]] of Amsterdam'' and even the city authorities frequently brought important visitors to hear Sweelinck's improvisations.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

==Works==
{{listen
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|title=Variations on Mein junges Leben hat ein End'
|description=Performed by Matthias Flierl
|format=[[Ogg]]
|filename2=Est-ce Mars Sweelinck.ogg
|title2=Variations on Est-ce Mars
|description2=Performed by Ashtar Moïra
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Sweelinck represents the highest development of the Dutch keyboard school, and indeed represented a pinnacle in keyboard contrapuntal complexity and refinement before [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J.S. Bach]]. However, he was a skilled composer for voices as well, and composed more than 250 vocal works ([[chanson]]s, [[madrigal (music)|madrigal]]s, [[motet]]s and [[Psalm]]s).{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

Some of Sweelinck's innovations were of profound musical importance, including the [[fugue]]&mdash;he was the first to write an organ fugue which began simply, with one subject, successively adding texture and complexity until a final climax and resolution. It is also generally thought that many of Sweelinck's keyboard works were intended as studies for his pupils.<ref>Noske, Frits. 1988. ''Oxford Studies of Composers'', vol. 22: Sweelinck. Oxford England: Oxford University Press. Pg. 98</ref> He was also the first to use the pedal as a real fugal part.<ref>Baker’s biographical dictionary of musicians, 7th Edition. “Sweelinck, Jan Pieterszoon.”</ref> Stylistically Sweelinck's music also brings together the richness, complexity and spatial sense of [[Andrea Gabrieli|Andrea]] and [[Giovanni Gabrieli]], and the [[Ornament (music)|ornamentation]] and intimate forms of the [[English Virginalist School|English virginalists]]. In some of his works Sweelinck appears as a composer of the Baroque style, with the exception of his chansons which mostly resemble the French Renaissance tradition.<ref>Reese, Gustave. 1959. ''Music in the Renaissance.'' New York: W. W. Norton & Co.</ref> In formal development, especially in the use of [[countersubject]], [[stretto]], and organ point ([[pedal point]]), his music could be said to resemble Bach (who was quite possibly familiar with Sweelinck’s music).<ref>Noske, Frits. 1988. ''Oxford Studies of Composers'', vol. 22: Sweelinck. Oxford England: Oxford University Press. Pg. 130</ref>

Sweelinck was a master [[musical improvisation|improviser]], and acquired the informal title of the "[[Orpheus]] of Amsterdam".<ref name=Mander>{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/mand001schi01_01/mand001schi01_01_0266.htm Orgelist oft Orpheus van Amsterdam, Ian Pietersz.] in [[Karel van Mander]]'s ''[[Schilder-boeck]]'', 1604, courtesy of the [[Digital library for Dutch literature]]</ref> More than 70 of his keyboard works have survived, and many of them may be similar to the improvisations that residents of Amsterdam around 1600 were likely to have heard. In the course of his life, Sweelinck was involved with the musical liturgies of three distinctly different traditions: Catholic, the Calvinist, and Lutheran—all of which are reflected in his work.<ref name="noske66"/> Even his vocal music, which is more conservative than his keyboard writing, shows a striking rhythmic complexity and an unusual richness of contrapuntal devices.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

==Influence==
[[Image:Jan Pietersz. Sweelinck LACMA M.88.91.370.jpg|250px|thumb|left|A 1624 portrait of Sweelinck, engraved by Jan Harmensz. Muller.]]
Sweelinck's only duties in [[Amsterdam]] were those of an organist.<ref>[http://www.radionetherlandsarchives.org/the-orpheus-of-amsterdam-jan-pieterszoon-sweeling-part-1/ "The Orpheus of Amsterdam, Part 1 - A Church Organist", Radio Netherlands Archives, March 31, 2002]</ref> Contrary to custom, he did not play the [[carillon]] or the [[harpsichord]] on formal occasions, nor was he regularly required to produce compositions. [[Calvinist]] services did not typically include organ playing due to the belief in what is now called the [[Regulative principle of worship|Regulative Principle]]. The Regulative Principle restricted the elements of worship to only that which was commanded in the New Testament. However, the [[Consistory (Protestantism)#Reformed usage|Consistory]] of Dordrecht of 1598 instructed organists to play variations on the new Genevan psalm tunes before and after the service so that the people would become familiar with them.<ref>Kobald, Norma "Reformed Music Journal" Vol. 9, No. 2. 1997. Langley, BC. Canada. Brookside Publishing. Pg. 36</ref> Sweelinck was employed instead by the city itself. As he worked for Protestant magistrates the remainder of his life, it is likely that he was an adherent of Calvinism. In the 1590s three of his children were baptized in the [[Oude Kerk (Amsterdam)|Oude Kerk]].<ref>Noske, Frits. 1988. ''Oxford Studies of Composers'', vol. 22: Sweelinck. Oxford England: Oxford University Press. pg. 9</ref> His employment allowed him time for teaching, for which he was to become as famous as for his compositions. Sweelinck's pupils included the core of what was to become the [[German organ schools|north German organ school]]: [[Jacob Praetorius II]], [[Heinrich Scheidemann]], [[Paul Siefert]], [[Melchior Schildt]] and [[Samuel Scheidt|Samuel]] and [[Gottfried Scheidt]].<ref>''Oxford Studies of Composers'', vol. 22: Sweelinck. Oxford England: Oxford University Press. Pg. 14–15</ref> Students of Sweelinck were seen as musicians against whom other organists were measured.<ref name="Sadie406-7"/> Sweelinck was known in Germany as the "maker of organists".<ref>[http://www.radionetherlandsarchives.org/jan-pieterszoon-sweelinck-the-orpheus-of-amsterdam-part-2-a-celebrated-master/ "The Orpheus of Amsterdam, Part 2 - A Celebrated Master", Radio Netherlands Archives, April 7, 2002]</ref> Sociable and respected, he was in great demand as a teacher.<ref>Noske, Frits. 1988. ''Oxford Studies of Composers'', vol. 22: Sweelinck. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Pg. 16</ref> His Dutch pupils were undoubtedly many, but none of them became composers of note. Sweelinck, however, influenced the development of the Dutch organ school, as is shown in the work of later composers such as [[Anthoni van Noordt]]. Sweelinck, in the course of his career, had set music to Catholic, Calvinist and Lutheran liturgies.<ref name="noske66">Noske, Frits. 1988. ''Oxford Studies of Composers'', vol. 22: Sweelinck. Oxford England: Oxford University Press. Pg. 66.</ref> He was the most important composer of the musically rich "golden era" of the Netherlands.<ref name="Sadie406-7"/>

Sweelinck's influence spread as far as Sweden and England, carried to the former by [[Andreas Düben]] and to the latter by English composers such as [[Peter Philips]], who probably met Sweelinck in 1593. Sweelinck, and Dutch composers in general, had evident links to the English school of composition. Sweelinck's music appears in the ''[[Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]]'', which otherwise only contains the work of English composers. He wrote variations on [[John Dowland]]'s famous [[Lachrimae Pavane]]. [[John Bull (composer)|John Bull]], who was probably a personal friend, wrote a set of variations on a theme by Sweelinck after the death of the Dutch composer.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

==Scores==
* A scholarly edition of Sweelinck's works has been published in the Netherlands in the years from 1974 to 1990, in 7 volumes (some of them divided in fascicles) with editors' notes in English: ''Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck: Opera Omnia / Editio altera quam edendam curavit Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis'' (2nd revised edition edited by Gustav Leonhardt, Alfons Annegarn, Frits Noske & al.), Amsterdam, VNM [Royal Dutch Society for Musicology], 1974–1990
* A new scholarly edition of Sweelinck's complete keyboard works ([[Breitkopf & Härtel]], 2004) is edited in 4 volumes by Harald Vogel and Pieter Dirksen.

==Recordings==
* ''Complete Keyboard Works''. Various organists and harpsichordists. NM Classics 92119 (9 CDs)<ref>Leo van Doeselaar, Peter van Dijk, Bob van Asperen, Menno van Delft, Siebe Henstra, Pieter Dirksen, Freddy Eichelberger, Glen Wilson, etc.</ref>
* ''Het Sweelinck Monument'', a complete recording of the vocal works of Sweelinck; The Gesualdo Consort conducted by [[Harry van der Kamp]], Glossa, (17 CDs), 2009–2010.<ref>[http://www.glossamusic.com/glossa/context.aspx?Id=42 An interview with Harry van der Kamp] by Mark Wiggins, 2009</ref> The recordings were simultaneously issued on CD and also available in Dutch language book-CD presentation sets in the Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jpsweelinck.nl/ |title=Het Sweelinck Monument |access-date=2010-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724154714/http://www.jpsweelinck.nl/ |archive-date=2011-07-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of music students by teacher: R to S#Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck|List of students of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck]]

==References==
<references/>

==Further reading==
* [[Gustave Reese]], ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. {{ISBN|0-393-09530-4}}
* [[Manfred Bukofzer]], ''Music in the Baroque Era''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947. {{ISBN|0-393-09745-5}}
* ''The Concise Edition of Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 8th ed. Revised by Nicolas Slonimsky. New York, Schirmer Books, 1993. {{ISBN|0-02-872416-X}}
* Pieter Dirksen, ''The Keyboard Music of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck&nbsp;– Its Style, Significance and Influence.'' (Utrecht, 1997). {{ISBN|90-6375-159-1}}
* Sweelinck Studies, ''Proceedings of the Sweelinck Symposium'', Utrecht 1999, (Utrecht 2001) Edited by Pieter Dirksen. {{ISBN|90-72786-09-2}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*{{ChoralWiki}}
* [http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/sweelinck.html Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck]
* {{IMSLP|id=Sweelinck%2C_Jan_Pieterszoon|cname=Sweelinck}}

{{Renaissance music}}
{{Baroque music}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweelinck, Jan Pieterszoon}}
[[Category:Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck| ]]
[[Category:1562 births]]
[[Category:1621 deaths]]
[[Category:Renaissance composers]]
[[Category:Composers for pipe organ]]
[[Category:Composers for harpsichord]]
[[Category:Madrigal composers]]
[[Category:Organ improvisers]]
[[Category:Dutch classical composers]]
[[Category:Dutch classical organists]]
[[Category:Dutch music theorists]]
[[Category:German Baroque composers]]
[[Category:Dutch Baroque composers]]
[[Category:German male organists]]
[[Category:Muiderkring]]
[[Category:Musicians from Amsterdam]]
[[Category:Organists and composers in the North German tradition]]
[[Category:People from Deventer]]
[[Category:Burials at the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam]]
[[Category:17th-century male musicians]]
[[Category:Dutch male classical organists]]