Paul Siefert (variants: Syfert, Sivert, Sibert; 23 May 1586 – 6 May 1666) was a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

associated with the North German school.

Biography

He was born in Danzig (Gdańsk),

Royal Prussia Royal Prussia (; or , ) or Polish PrussiaAnton Friedrich Büsching, Patrick Murdoch. ''A New System of Geography'', London 1762p. 588/ref> (Polish: ; German: ) became a province of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, which was annexed follow ...

(a fief of the

Crown of Poland The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (; ) was a political and legal concept formed in the 14th century in the Kingdom of Poland, assuming unity, indivisibility and continuity of the state. Under this idea, the state was no longer seen as the pa ...

) to his father's second wife and named after his father (died 1604), who was a

procurator Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * Procurator (Ancient Rome), the title of var ...

. The Danzig

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

gave a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

to him to study with Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

from 1607 to 1610, where he studied alongside

Samuel Scheidt Samuel Scheidt (baptized 3 November 1587 – 24 March 1654) was a German composer, organist and teacher of the early Baroque era. Life and career Scheidt was born in Halle, and after early studies there, he went to Amsterdam to study with ...

for part of that time. Upon completion of his studies, he returned home where he became assistant organist of the Marienkirche. His application to become principal organist of the church after

Cajus Schmiedtlein Cajus Schmiedtlein (1611) was a German Renaissance composer and organist and is best known for his time as the organist at St. Mary's Church, Gdańsk. His name appears in different spelling variants in the Low German dialect (Caj Schmedeke, Key Sc ...

died in March 1611 failed due to complaints about his arrogance and style of performance. He moved to

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

in 1611 to take up the post of organist of Altstadt Church, and became court organist at

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in 1616. He returned to Danzig in 1623 to become principal organist, where he remained until his death; he failed in an application for the post of

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

in 1627 after the death of Andreas Hakenberger, who was succeeded by Kaspar Förster. He did not lead a serene life; he became sidelined at the Warsaw court, and had long-running feuds with Kaspar Förster,

choirmaster A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

of the Marienkirche from 1627 to 1652, and Marco Scacchi, Polish court choirmaster from 1628 to 1649.

Music

His first book of ''Psalmen Davids'' consists of two concertos for three and four voices and twelve settings for four and five voices of material drawn from the

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

Goudimel- Lobwasser

psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters were ...

of the

Reformed Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

. The form used is that of the

chorale A chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one o ...

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

, the instrumental parts having little significance, mainly doubling the voices. ''Psalmorum Davidicorum'' II consists of fifteen psalms for four to eight voices, a concerto for four voices, and an eight-part instrumental

canzona The canzona, also known as the canzon or canzone, is an Italian musical form derived from the Franco-Flemish and Parisian '' chansons''. Background The canzona is an instrumental musical form that differs from the similar forms of ricercare ...

; the works are antecedents of the concertato chorale motet and the chorale

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

; there are instrumental preludes and

ritornello A ritornello (Italian; "little return") is a recurring passage in Renaissance music and Baroque music for orchestra or chorus. Early history The earliest use of the term "ritornello" in music referred to the final lines of a fourteenth-century ...

s, and alternating sections of solo and tutti passages. His keyboard works bear some similarity to Sweelinck, but are not generally of a high quality. The highly ornamented line is usually played by the right hand with the chorale underneath. This texture is interrupted by episodes exploiting effects of harmony and colour.

Surviving works

Vocal

*''Psalmen Davids, nach französischer Melodey oder Weise in Music componieret'', 3-5 part

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, instruments doubling and continuo (1640) *''Canticum seu Symbolum divi Ambrosii et Augustini Te Deum laudamus'', 1-5 part choir, instruments doubling and continuo (1642) *''Psalmorum Davidicorum, ad gallicam melodiam … pars II …'' 4-8 part choir, instruments doubling and continuo (1651) *''Der Herr herrschen thut'', motet for 5 part choir

Instrumental

* ''Canzona a 8'', in ''Psalmorum'' (1651) *

Chorale A chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one o ...

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

, keyboard * 13 fantasias, keyboard (doubtful) * ''Paduana'' for keyboard * ''Benedicam Dominum'', fantasia for keyboard after a motet by

Orlando di Lasso Orlando di Lasso ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with William Byrd, Giovanni Pierlui ...

Theoretical

*''Anticribratio musica ad avenam Schachianam'' (1645)

Sources

*Jerrold C. Baab, 'Siefert yfert, Sivert, Sibert Paul', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2007-06-08), http://www.grovemusic.com/ *C.V. Palisca: ''Marco Scacchi's Defense of Modern Music (1649)'', in ''Words and Music: the Scholar's View'', ed. L. Berman (Cambridge, MA, 1972) *D. Brough: ''Polish 17th-Century Church Music'' (New York, 1989)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siefert, Paul 1586 births 1666 deaths 17th-century German classical composers German Baroque composers German male classical composers German classical organists Musicians from Gdańsk Organists and composers in the North German tradition People from Royal Prussia Pupils of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck 17th-century German male musicians German male classical organists