German organ schools

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The 17th century organ composers of Germany can be divided into two primary schools: the north German school and the south German school (sometimes a third school, central German, is added). The stylistic differences were dictated not only by teacher-pupil traditions and international influences, but also by separate organ building traditions: northern organs tend to have a tower layout with emphasis on the pedal division, while southern and Austrian instruments are typically divided around a window and emphasize manual divisions.

North German organ school

Overview

The composer who is now considered the founder of this school is

Pieter Cornet). Sweelinck's influence therefore was primarily important in Germany, Heinrich Scheidemann and Gottfried Scheidt
being the first major composers to study under him.

Later northerners like

Nikolaus Bruhns
was the most important of Buxtehude's pupils, but he died early and only a few works by him survive.

The quality of north German organs improved vastly during the 17th and early 18th century. The instruments would typically have two or more manuals, a pedalboard and a wide range of stops; this contributed to the style cultivated across the region as the majority of large-scale works require considerable pedal skills and benefit from larger, more versatile organs.

List of composers

[1]

South German organ school

Overview

The tradition of the south was shaped by composers who travelled to Italy or studied under Italian masters. The first important southerner was

Mozart
.

Froberger did not have any significant pupils, but the other important southerner,

Händel's frequent borrowing from Kerll's work), but he was a model (perhaps even taught) for the Nuremberg-born Johann Pachelbel
, whose work is the highest point of the south German tradition.

Typical south German organs differed from their northern counterparts and could have only a dozen or two stops, sometimes a single manual and, occasionally, no pedal; much like many Italian instruments. The music of south German composers on the whole concentrates more on melody, harmonic clarity and sound; genre-wise, Italian models were adopted and resulted in German versions of the toccata, a special brand of improvisatory preludes, and ostinato variation forms: chaconnes and passacaglias. Perhaps the last significant southerner was Johann Heinrich Buttstett, Pachelbel's pupil, who continued the trends set by his teacher but did not achieve any considerable fame; it appears that numerous works by him are now lost.

List of composers

[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ Taken 18 May 2011 from http://www.grabinski-online.de/div/nordorgel.html and http://www.hoasm.org/VIB/VIBClavierOrganLute.html
  2. ^ Taken 19 May 2011 from http://www.hoasm.org/VIB/VIBClavierOrganLute.html
  • Hans Tischler, Willi Apel. "The History of Keyboard Music to 1700". 1972 Indiana University Press.
    ISBN 0-253-21141-7
  • John Caldwell. "Keyboard music (I)",
    Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy. grovemusic.com Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
    (subscription access).
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