Susanne Van Soldt Manuscript
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The Susanne van Soldt Manuscript is a keyboard
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
dated 1599 consisting of 33 pieces copied by or for a young
Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...
or Dutch girl living in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Its importance lies mostly in the fact that it is the only known source of early Dutch keyboard music prior to Sweelinck.


The author

According to the conventional account, by Alan Curtis and others, Susanne van Soldt was the daughter of Hans van Soldt (born circa 1555), a wealthy
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
merchant from
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
. Hans probably took refuge in London after the
sack of Antwerp The sack of Antwerp, often known as the Spanish Fury at Antwerp, was an episode of the Eighty Years' War. It is the greatest massacre in the history of the Low Countries. On 4 November 1576, mutinying Spanish tercios of the Army of Flanders ...
by the Spanish in 1576, and Susanne was born there and baptized at the Dutch Church at Austin Friars on 20 May 1586. Sometime after 1605 Hans and his family left London for
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 ...
, where he appears as a shareholder of the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
in 1609. No trace of Susanne has been found, but a sister or cousin of hers, baptized in London in 1588, was living in Amsterdam in the early 17th century. This has been criticised for ignoring relevant documents. The van Solt/Soldt family has been well recorded but in more than 12 variants of the name. The family did start and record a family chronicle, starting with Paulus van Solt born 1514, which was recopied in the 1800s and recorded in the "Familie Soldt" article by Jurrian van Tolt in the Dutch genealogical periodical ''De Navorscher'' for 1935. A more detailed article involving Susanne van Soldt's family is published in the 2007 ''De Nederlandisch Leeuw'' Dutch genealogical periodical by Emile van der Spek. Susanne van Soldt was the daughter of Johannes Paulusz van Solt/Soldt de Oude (born 23 November 1550 in Antwerp)and Elizabeth Rombouts. Alan Curtis could have been easily confused due to the fact there were at least three Johannes or variants Hans, Jan, and John in London during this period of time. In 1604 Susanne married Pieter Loos (Peeter Loos or Loose)in Amsterdam. In late August 1615 Susanne died shortly after complications in the birth of her third child. She was buried at the Zuiderkerk in Amsterdam. Her uncle was a well known Dutch artist Jacques/Jacob van Solt/Soldt known for his Italian landscapes. Susanne's nephew was Paulus van Solt/Soldt (recorded also as Paolo van Soldi) the famous Dutch mariner who kept a diary which is noted in many history books on the naval explorations of Asia and Australia. Susanne's father Hans de oude and brother Hans de jonge were also known to associate with famous artists and to deal in art. The family and its connections in the art world are detailed in the 2002 book ''Art at auction in 17th-century Amsterdam'' by John Michael Montias. The written van Soldt family history copies are kept at the Central Bureau voor Genealogie and at the Groen Hart Archives.


The manuscript

The compilation consists of 27 folios bearing a late 16th-century Flemish
watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations i ...
bound in a small volume measuring about 28.5 by 21 cm. Two
hands A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "han ...
can be distinguished, principally that of a Flemish or Dutch copyist, whilst some pieces, together with a table of notations and various fingering indications are in a later English hand, possibly that of Susanne's music teacher. Although it would appear that the manuscript was compiled for Susanne, the pieces it contains were current on the continent at a far earlier date, perhaps between 1570 and 1580. It has been conjectured therefore that the manuscript was written in Flanders or the Netherlands and brought over to London by Susanne's parents in the late 1570s, where Susanne's music-master later added pieces 30 to 33, the notation table on folio 2 and fingering indications in the first two bars of the first piece.Curtis (1961), p. xi-xii When Hans van Soldt and his family left London, the manuscript presumably remained in England, although there is no trace of it until 1826 when it was sold among the effects of the music collector Thomas Jones of Nottingham Place, London, who had died the year previous. The
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
acquired the manuscript in 1873 where it is now catalogued under the reference Add MS 29485.


Contents

While most of the pieces, including the psalm settings, are anonymous, many of the Franco-Flemish dance tunes can be found in other collections of the period, notably the Dublin Virginal Manuscript of circa 1570. With the exception of pieces 30, 31 and 33 (pieces written in a later English hand), there is no trace of influence from contemporary English music. The four-part psalms are the earliest known keyboard settings from the Dutch
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 ...
and are of high quality. #Brande Champanje #Almande de symmerman #Almande de La nonette #De frans galliard #Galliarde quÿ passe #Myn siele Wylt den Herre met Lof sanch Prijsen … 103 sallem #Als een Hert gejacht … den 42 sallem #Myn God Voet mij als myn Herder ghepressen … 23 sallem #Wt de diepte o Heere … 130 sallem #Susanna Vung Jour (
Orlande de Lassus 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 ...
) #Pavana Bassano #Galliarde Bassani #Almande Brun Smeedelyn #Almande prynce #Almande de amour #Almande #Brabanschen ronden dans opte Brand #Ontfarmt V over mij arme Sondaer … den 51 sallem / Ich bydde V Helpt mij o God … den 69 sallem #Pavane dan Vers #Tobyas om stervengheneghen #Almande trycottee #De quadre pavanne #De quadre galliard #Heer zich Wil U Wt's Herten gront … den 9 sallem #Ghij Volcheren des aertrijcx al … den 100 sallem #Bewaert mij Heer Weest doch myn toeverlaet … den 16 sallem #Des boosdoenders Wille seer quaet ... den 36 sallem / Staet op Heer toont V onverzacht … den 68 sallem #Godt die der goden Heer is sprechen sal … den 50 sallem #Ghij Herder Israels Wylt Hooren … den 80 sallem #Preludium (
John Bull John Bull is a national personification of England, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country-dwelling, jolly and matter-of-fact man. He originated in satirical works of ...
) # ntitled#Allemande Loreyne #Pavane Prymera (
William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continental Europe, Continent. He i ...
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See also

* The Mulliner Book * The Dublin Virginal Manuscript *
My Ladye Nevells Booke ''My Ladye Nevells Booke'' (British Library MS Mus. 1591) is a music manuscript containing keyboard pieces by the English composer William Byrd, and, together with the '' Fitzwilliam Virginal Book'', one of the most important collections of Rena ...
*
Clement Matchett's Virginal Book Clement Matchett's Virginal Book is a musical manuscript from the late renaissance compiled by a young Norfolk man in 1612. Although a small anthology, it is notable not only for the quality of its music but also for the precise fingering indicat ...
*
Fitzwilliam Virginal Book The ''Fitzwilliam Virginal Book'' is a primary source of keyboard music from the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods in England, i.e., the late Renaissance and very early Baroque. It takes its name from Viscount Fitzwilliam who bequ ...
* Parthenia *
Priscilla Bunbury's Virginal Book Priscilla Bunbury's Virginal Book is a musical commonplace book compiled in the late 1630s by two young women from an affluent Cheshire family. It is important more for its fingering indications than for the quality of the music it contains. The ...
*
Elizabeth Rogers' Virginal Book ''Elizabeth Rogers' Virginal Book'' is a musical commonplace book compiled in the mid-seventeenth century by a person or persons so far unidentified. Of all the so-called English "virginal books" this is the only one to mention the name of the inst ...
*
Anne Cromwell's Virginal Book Anne Cromwell's Virginal Book is a manuscript keyboard compilation dated 1638. Whilst the importance of the music it contains is not high, it reveals the sort of keyboard music that was being played in the home at this time. The manuscript The up ...


Notes


References

{{Authority control Renaissance music Franco-Flemish music Music of the Netherlands Compositions for harpsichord Compositions for keyboard Renaissance music manuscript sources 1599 books British Library additional manuscripts 1590s in music