music for god’s glory: the improvisatory organ music of

Music for God’s Glory: The Improvisatory Organ Music of Matthias Weckmann (1616 – 1674)

by

Hanné Becker

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Musical Arts in Organ Performance

Faculty of Music University of Toronto

© Copyright by Hanné Becker 2021

ii

Music for God’s Glory: The Improvisatory Organ Music of

Matthias Weckmann (1616 – 1674)

Hanné Becker

Doctorate of Musical Arts (Organ Performance)

Faculty of Music University of Toronto

2021

Abstract

The improvisatory music of German organist-composer Matthias Weckmann (1616 – 1674) has

remained largely undervalued and underperformed for almost 400 years, arguably suffering a

similar fate as did the works of Johann Sebastian Bach (until Felix Mendelssohn sparked a

revived interest in Bach’s music during the early 19th-century). Despite Weckmann’s relative

obscurity today, interest in his music is growing. Weckmann studied organ, singing and

counterpoint with the famed Heinrich Schütz and Jacob Praetorius II, and was hailed as a “true

virtuoso” by contemporary Johann Jakob Froberger after a legendary improvisation contest

between the two musicians. This study documents the search for, and deeper understanding of,

Weckmann’s improvisatory competencies through exploring the different facets of his life,

relationships, and work — and ultimately how Weckmann contributed to the legacy of

improvisation within the realm of North German baroque organ music. I document Weckmann’s

life, his travels, the influences of his teachers and the breathtakingly beautiful instruments that

shaped his artistic style and registrational practice. With a view towards 1) engendering a deeper

and more comprehensive stylistic understanding of Weckmann’s music, 2) solving numerous

problems of attribution, and 3) laying the groundwork for a new performer’s edition of

Weckmann’s Organ Works, the dissertation provides an in-depth analysis of the Free and

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Chorale-based works. The study frames Weckmann’s genius in terms of his exceptional

contrapuntal skill, improvisatory imagination, sensitivity to sacred texts, as well as the creative

methods he implemented to maximize exploration of the expressive possibilities of the organ,

thereby bringing his diverse set of powerful musical ideas to life.

iv

Acknowledgments

I give deepest thanks to my supervisor and mentor, Dr. Kevin Komisaruk, who guided me in the

truest way a teacher can: providing me with, and sharpening the skills and competencies I will

use in the future. For his ability to understand where I wanted to go with this from the beginning,

for helping to shape my academic voice, for his encouragement and willingness to guide the

direction of the study; for his timely and trustworthy mentorship in terms of editing and style,

amazing sensitivity to the nuances needed to distinguish between complex and subtle points of

difference, and for his endless encouragement and wise discernment. To Prof. Mark Sallmen I

give my sincerest thanks as well, for his patience, wonderful sense of humor; for asking many

tough questions, for keeping me grounded, and for providing sharp focus and insights in the

editing of my work. My thanks also to Dr. Patricia Wright for providing valuable feedback on

the chapters, and asking many insightful questions. Thank you to Prof. Stephanie Martin, who

further asked thought-provoking questions, and gave inspiration to my next steps. I am grateful

to Prof. Gregory Johnston who helped me understand the musicological process more deeply

with regards to particular aspects of archival research, and who provided me with valuable leads

and contacts along the way. My thanks also to Prof. Alexander Silbiger for the same. I appreciate

very much the many helpful articles and insightful information I received from Ibo Ortgies,

Federico Andreoni, as well as the excellent staff at the University of Toronto Music Library. I

thank very kindly Dr. Martina Rebmann and the staff at the Staatsbibliothek, Berlin for providing

me with the scans of the manuscript needed for my study. To my colleague Martin Jongsma for

the many fruitful and inspiring conversations. Finally, a word of thanks to both my parents. I

thank my mother Corina for teaching me never to give up, as well as my father Frederik, who

taught me to be curious, and apply sound scientific method since I was very young. “Ach Herr,

hilfs und wende meinen Thun/Sinn zum guten Ende.” This prayerful statement adorns the title

page of the Weckmann autograph Gelobet seist Du, Jesu Christ. I echo Weckmann’s sentiment,

and with these acknowledgments I would finally give thanks to my Creator, without whom this

dissertation, and this journey would not have been possible. All glory to Him!

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv

Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................v

List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii

List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ ix

Chapter 1 Matthias Weckmann (1616 – 1674): Brief Biography and Context ...............................1

Weckmann’s World ....................................................................................................................1

1.1 Birthplace and Family ..........................................................................................................1

1.2 Early Beginnings with Schütz in Dresden ...........................................................................2

1.3 Influence of Schütz ..............................................................................................................3

1.4 Influence of Jacob Praetorius in Hamburg...........................................................................6

1.5 Broader Significance of Syntagma Musicum as “Universal” ..............................................8

1.6 Return to Dresden ................................................................................................................9

1.7 Escape to Denmark ............................................................................................................11

1.8 Final Dresden Period..........................................................................................................11

1.9 Hamburg, City of Dreams ..................................................................................................14

1.10 Audition at St. Jacobi .........................................................................................................16

1.11 Church Music and Life at St. Jacobi ..................................................................................19

1.12 Social Status of the Organist in the Lutheran Church ........................................................22

1.13 Tentative Chronology and Final Period .............................................................................23

1.14 Weckmann’s Children .......................................................................................................24

Chapter 2 Weckmann’s Teachers ..................................................................................................27

Weckmann’s Teachers ..............................................................................................................27

2.1 Heinrich Schütz (1585 – 1672) ..........................................................................................27

2.2 Jacob Praetorius II (8 February 1586 – 21 October 1651).................................................33

Chapter 3 Details about the Organs and Registrations ..................................................................40

vi

Instruments and Registrations ...................................................................................................40

3.1 Weckmann’s Instruments...................................................................................................40

3.1.1 The Dresden Instruments by Gottfried Fritzsche (1578 – 1638) ...........................40

3.1.2 The Nykøbing on Falster Instrument, Denmark – Johan Lorentz (ca. 1580 – 1650)? ....................................................................................................................45

3.1.3 The Organs at Hamburg, St. Jacobi and St. Petri – Gottfried Fritzsche / Hans Christoph Fritzsche ................................................................................................45

3.1.4 Smaller Organs: Portable Organs, Positives and Regals .......................................52

3.1.5 Links to Richborn ..................................................................................................54

3.2 Registrational Practices: The Sound World of Weckmann ...............................................54

3.2.1 Full Organ Registrations ........................................................................................54

3.2.2 Colourful Solo Registrations..................................................................................55

Chapter 4 Analysis .........................................................................................................................59

Analysis .....................................................................................................................................60

4.1 Part 1: Structural Organization and Thematic Treatment ..................................................60

4.1.1 Free Works .............................................................................................................60

4.1.2 Chorale-based Works .............................................................................................81

4.2 Part 2: Cadences and Cadential Formulae .........................................................................95

4.2.1 Cadenza Doppia .....................................................................................................97

4.2.2 Expressive Dissonances after a Cadence .............................................................103

4.3 Part 3: Harmony in Weckmann’s Organ Works ..............................................................105

4.3.1 Tonal Closure or Lack Thereof ............................................................................105

4.3.2 Roman Numeral Analysis ....................................................................................108

4.3.3 Root Motions .......................................................................................................112

4.3.4 Issues Found and Recommendations for Further Research .................................125

4.3.5 Examining “Ach wir armen Sünder” as a Questionable Weckmann Piece .........125

4.3.6 Application of Both Theories ...............................................................................127

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Chapter 5 Manuscripts and Editions ............................................................................................130

Manuscripts and Editions ........................................................................................................130

5.1 Challenges of Authorship ................................................................................................131

5.1.1 Challenges Emerging from Studies on the Weckmann Tablatures / Manuscripts ..........................................................................................................132

5.2 Important Weckmann Historical Manuscripts: Scribes and Collections .........................134

5.2.1 Autograph Sources ...............................................................................................134

5.2.2 The Wedemann Copies ........................................................................................135

5.2.3 The Kortkamp Copy ............................................................................................136

5.2.4 Anonymous Scribes .............................................................................................136

5.2.5 The Walther Copy ................................................................................................138

5.2.6 Questions Surrounding Other Works ...................................................................139

5.2.7 Recommendations for a New Performer’s Edition ..............................................141

Bibliography ................................................................................................................................143

Appendix A: RMG Charts ...........................................................................................................153

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List of Tables

Table 1: Titles and Dates of the Chorale-based Works of Praetorius and Weckmann ................. 38

Table 2: Schlosskirche, Dresden: Organ by Gottfried Fritzsche (Reconstructed) ........................ 43

Table 3: Disposition of the Hamburg St. Petri Organ (1619) ....................................................... 47

Table 4: Disposition of St. Jacobi Organ, with Gottfried Fritzsche's Contribution Bolded ......... 50

Table 5: Disposition of Portable Organ in Denmark .................................................................... 53

Table 6: The Praetorian Registration ............................................................................................ 56

Table 7: Registration Indications in KN 209 ................................................................................ 57

Table 8: List of Weckmann Organ Works Analyzed .................................................................... 59

Table 9: Structural Organization in the Free Works ..................................................................... 61

Table 10: Thematic Catalogue of Weckmann Fugue Subjects ..................................................... 70

Table 11: The Chorale Melodies Weckmann Used and their Liturgical Function ....................... 83

Table 12: Types of Bass Motion in Cadences .............................................................................. 96

Table 13: Matrix of CPTs ........................................................................................................... 115

Table 14: Modern Publications of Weckmann Organ Works ..................................................... 130

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List of Figures

Figure 1: Bass Recitative from Weckman's Cantata "Weine nicht", Showing the Text-to-Music

Relationship .................................................................................................................................. 31

Figure 2: Heinrich Schütz, from Kleine Geistliche Konzerte, op. 8 SWV 282 ............................ 32

Figure 3: Complete Fugal Section with Stretto from Praeambulum primi Toni a.5..................... 65

Figure 4: Praeambulum primi Toni a.5, Second Fugue with a "Wave of Subjects" in Stretto ..... 66

Figure 5: Formal Diagram Showing Stretto Layers in the First Fugal Section in Weckmann's

Praeambulum primi Toni a.5 ........................................................................................................ 67

Figure 6: Fugal Process in Fantasia ex D...................................................................................... 68

Figure 7: Fugue Emergence in m. 24 of Praeambulum primi Toni a.5 ........................................ 69

Figure 8: Subject with Tonal Answer in the First Fugue of Fantasia ex D .................................. 71

Figure 9: Tonal Answer in the Second Fugue of Fantasia ex D ................................................... 72

Figure 10: Fugue Subject of Fantasia ex D ................................................................................... 73

Figure 11: Episodic and Sequential Material Derived from the Subject Outline ......................... 74

Figure 12: An Independent Rhythmic Episodic motive (IEM) "growing" out of the subject

statement in the Fantasia ex D, Part 2 ........................................................................................... 75

Figure 13: Opening of Praeambulum primi Toni a.5, mm. 1 – 7 ................................................. 76

Figure 14: Launch into Virtuosic SF Passagework of m. 8 .......................................................... 77

Figure 15: End of Fuga ex d ped primi Toni. ............................................................................... 78

Figure 16: Dialogue of Gestures / Rhetorical Questions in the Pre-Final SF Virtuosic Flourish in

Weckmann's Fantasia ex D ........................................................................................................... 79

Figure 17: Triplet Tumbling SF in the Final Measures of the Fantasia ex D ............................... 80

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Figure 18: End of Fantasia ex D ................................................................................................... 80

Figure 19: Verse 1 of the Magnificat II. Toni shows the CF in the Tenor 2 Voice, mm. 1 – 7. ... 84

Figure 20: A Pedals-only Evident CF in Verse 2 of O lux beata Trinitas, mm. 9 – 13 ................ 85

Figure 21: Verse 4 of O lux beata Trinitas, Variation I :CF in the Soprano, mm. 1 – 6 .............. 85

Figure 22: Ornamented CF in Verse 2 of Magnificat II. Toni ...................................................... 86

Figure 23: Opening of Verse 2, Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ with Imitative CF .......................... 87

Figure 24: Vor-imitation in Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein, Verse 1 ............................. 88

Figure 25: Canonic technique in Est ist das Heil uns kommen her, Verse 4 ................................ 88

Figure 26: SF as Ornamentation in Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, Verse 6 ............................. 89

Figure 27: Sesquialtera (SQ) in Komm, heiliger Geist, Verse 3. ................................................. 90

Figure 28: Chromaticism in Nun freut, euch lieben Christen g’mein, Verse 3 ............................ 91

Figure 29: Double Pedal Technique in Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, Verse 7 ....................... 92

Figure 30: Use of Wide Ranges in mm. 115 – 123 in Verse 2 of Gelobet Seist Du, Jesu Christ (I)

....................................................................................................................................................... 93

Figure 31: Double Pedal and Large Ranges in Verse 7 of Es ist das Heil uns kommen her ........ 94

Figure 32: Models of the Cadence Types ..................................................................................... 97

Figure 33: The Basic Model of Cadenza Doppia .......................................................................... 97

Figure 34: Praeambulum primi Toni a.5, mm. 10 – 11 and mm. 14 – 15..................................... 98

Figure 35: Praeambulum primi Toni a.5, mm. 19 – 20................................................................. 99

Figure 36: Praeambulum primi Toni a.5, mm. 23 – 24................................................................. 99

Figure 37: Praeambulum primi Toni a.5, mm. 53 – 54............................................................... 100

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Figure 38: Cadenza Doppia in the Fuga ex D ped. primi Toni, End of Part II, mm. 119 – 120 101

Figure 39: The “Interrupted by Rests” Cadenza Doppia ............................................................ 101

Figure 40: Cadenza Doppia in the Fantasia ex D, mm. 37 - 38 .................................................. 102

Figure 41: SF Virtuosic Flourish after the Characteristic Cadenza Doppia Statement .............. 102

Figure 42: Cadenza Doppia before the entrance of the main CF in Es ist das Heil, Verse 1 ..... 103

Figure 43: Final Cadence of the Toccata ex D ........................................................................... 103

Figure 44: Final Cadence Extension of the Magnificat II. Toni ................................................. 104

Figure 45: Decoration of “Plagal Cadence” Extension at the End of O lux beata Trinitas, Verse 1

..................................................................................................................................................... 104

Figure 46: Roman Numerals in Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein, Verse 2 ..................... 109

Figure 47: Roman Numeral Analysis in Verse 1 of Gelobet seist, du Jesu Christ (I) ................ 109

Figure 48: Contrapuntal Opening of Verse 1 of O lux Beata Trinitas ........................................ 110

Figure 49: Tonally Ambiguous Opening in Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, Verse 1 .............. 110

Figure 50: Magnificat II. Toni, Shown with Three Different Streams of RNs ........................... 112

Figure 51: Sample CPT Root Motion, with Explanation ............................................................ 114

Figure 52: Weckmann CPTs in Staff Notation ........................................................................... 117

Figure 53: Final Summation Chart of RMGs ............................................................................. 119

Figure 54: RMGs for the Free Works ......................................................................................... 121

Figure 55: RMGs for the Chorale-based Works ......................................................................... 121

Figure 56: Verse 1 of Komm, heiliger Geist: Expected p4↑MM Abundance ............................ 123

Figure 57: Verse 2with p4↓MM Abundance .............................................................................. 123

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Figure 58: Verse 3: Anomalous M2↑Mm Abundance ................................................................ 124

Figure 59: RMG for Ach wir Armen Sünder .............................................................................. 126

Figure 60: Roman Numerals in Verse 1 of Komm, heiliger Geist ............................................. 127

Figure 61: CPT Theory in Komm, heiliger Geist ....................................................................... 128

Figure 62: RMG of Gelobet Seist Du, Jesu Christ I ................................................................... 153

Figure 63: RMG of Komm, heiliger Geist .................................................................................. 154

Figure 64: RMG of Magnificat II. Toni ...................................................................................... 155

Figure 65: Nun freut Euch, lieben Christen g’mein .................................................................... 156

Figure 66: RMG for Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, Verses 1 and 2 ....................................... 157

Figure 67: RMG for Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet ............................................................... 158

Figure 68: RMG for O lux beata Trinitas, Verse 1 ..................................................................... 159

Figure 69: RMG for Ach wir armen Sünder ............................................................................... 160

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Chapter 1 Matthias Weckmann (1616 – 1674): Brief Biography and Context

The music of organist/composer Matthias Weckmann1 offers an alternate sound world, in which

deep aspects of humanity and spirituality can be discerned. By nature improvisatory, the vast

landscape of Weckmann's music generously invites both organist and audience into an

expressive space of joy and hope.

Weckmann’s World

1.1 Birthplace and Family

Matthias Weckmann hailed from the province of Thuringia located in the geographical center of

Germany. His birthplace was the small town of Niederdorla (now typically accepted as being in

the year 1616).2 Despite growing up in relative isolation and suffering the trauma of losing his

childhood home in a devastating town fire, Weckmann managed nevertheless to flourish, and

became what musicologist Christoph Wolff would characterize as a "universal musician".3 A

"universal musician" incorporates diverse musical styles into their compositions, and

demonstrates facility integrating both theoretical and practical aspects of music. Weckmann fits

Wolff's model, in that he traveled often throughout his life, and studied with influential teachers

providing him with a comprehensive musical education and broad perspectives. Indeed,

Weckmann's life was deeply shaped by his travels, by the people he met, and by the cities in

which he lived.

1 For the purposes of this dissertation, I decided to use the traditional spelling of Weckmann’s last name. Scholars including Ortgies and Maus have adopted what they assert is Weckmann’s own preferred spelling, i.e. that with the single n, Weckman. Given the large amount of research which spells the name as “Weckmann,” I have chosen to remain with the double-n spelling in this dissertation.

2 Mattheson mistakenly documented Weckmann's birth year as 1621. Recent research by Ibo Ortgies led to the more accepted date of 1616 after several considerations; see Hans Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann: the Interpretation of his Organ Music, Volume I (Göteborg: Gehrmans Musikförlag, 1991), 1.

3 Christoph Wolff, “J.S. Bach and the Legacy of the Seventeenth Century,” in Bach Studies 2, ed. Daniel Melamed (New York: Cambridge, 1995), 196 – 7.

2

Details about Weckmann's immediate family are few, though some key facts are known that shed

light on the musician Weckmann became. Records identify that his father, Jacob Weckmann,

worked as a teacher and/or possibly a priest.4 Either way, Jacob Weckmann was a highly

educated man.5 Unfortunately, comparatively little is known about Weckmann's mother, Maria.

Her maiden name, Cyriacus, is a Latinized version of the Greek "Kyriakos" —not a typical

German surname, which may suggest a different heritage on her side of the family.6 Weckmann

also had a younger brother Andreas, who figured prominently in his life, as well as other siblings

(about which comparatively very little information is available in historical sources).7

1.2 Early Beginnings with Schütz in Dresden

During formative years, every organist is shaped by their teacher(s) to some degree, and

Weckmann was no exception. At the age of twelve, Weckmann’s father brought the young

Matthias to study with Heinrich Schütz (1585 – 1672) in Dresden.8 It is still unknown whether

Weckmann had received any music lessons prior to this. For example, there is no evidence

supporting the notion that Weckmann’s father could have taught him music, as was common

practice for many families at the time.9 Instead, Jacob Weckmann arguably took the opportunity

to further his son's education during a special royal occasion that took place near the

Weckmanns' hometown in 1627. In the imperial city of Mühlhausen, a mere six kilometers away

4 Scholars dispute whether Jacob Weckmann was a teacher, a priest, or both; some suggest Jacob Weckmann was an organist, which Ortgies contests. See Heiko Maus, Matthias Weckman: das Leben des Hamburger Jacobi-Organisten und sein Schaffen für die Vox Humana, (Nordhausen: Verlag T. Bautz GmbH, 2016), 9.

5 Ibid.

6 Maria Cyriacus was the daughter of a merchant named Georg Cyriacus from Schleusingen, Thuringia. See Ibo Ortgies, “Neue Erkenntnisse zur Biographie Matthias Weckmanns,” in Proceedings of the Matthias Weckmann Symposium, Göteborg, 30 August – 3 September 1991, ed. Sverker Jullander (Gothenburg: Skrifer från Musikvetenskapliga avdelningen, 1993), 9.

7 We know that Andreas Weckmann was born on 16 December 1617; Ortgies, “Neue Erkenntnisse”, 1.

8 Davidsson provides two reasons for this occurrence; see Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 1.

9 Ortgies, “Neue Erkenntnisse”, 3.

3

from Niederdorla, an important political meeting of the three Crown Princes10 took place, for

which the Hofkapelle under the direction of Heinrich Schütz performed the music.11 This event

was significant in Weckmann’s education, since on the basis of available sources, Ortgies

concludes that Weckmann's father in all likelihood attended this event, where he made the

connection with the highly respected Schütz, and as a result was able to send Matthias to study

with him.12

1.3 Influence of Schütz

Heinrich Schütz has been described as one of the most influential German composers of the

17th century, and Weckmann came into this sphere of influence at a very young age.13 Schütz

was the Hofkapellmeister (or Director of Music) at the Electoral Chapel in Dresden. In this role,

Schütz would have overseen the musical education of the young Weckmann, who began training

as a choirboy in this very court chapel. Specifically, Weckmann was a Discantist14, a designation

with two-fold implications: first, that Weckmann had a high voice (in today's terms ‘boy

soprano’) and second, that he took on a soloist role as opposed to the rest of the boys (i.e. those

listed in church records as regular/ non-solo choir members). Documentation shows that

Weckmann is mentioned as a Discantist in the chapel of Dresden in April 1631, so he would

have been 15 years old at this time.15

10 The Crown Princes were nobles who reigned over the German lands, and sometimes held conferences to discuss politics and business. This Electoral Diet (held in November 1627) was an attempt to reconcile and strategically find a way out of the troublesome war-ridden European political landscape. Johnston notes that this meeting was unsuccessful, and the war continued, despite efforts to reach a compromise; see Gregory Johnston, A Heinrich Schütz Reader: Letters and Documents in Translation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 51.

11 Ortgies, “Neue Erkenntnisse”, 3. Johnston also adds that Schütz composed the work Da pacem, Domine (SWV 465) for this occasion, A Heinrich Schütz Reader, 48.


13 Wolff quotes the following telling inscription on Schütz’s grave: "the most excellent musician of his century – the seventeenth century"; see Wolff, “J.S. Bach and the Legacy of the Seventeenth Century”, 194.

14 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 1.


4

Ortgies provides some intriguing details regarding Weckmann's education at the Dresden court16,

all providing valuable insights into the musician Weckmann became, and which will be explored

in more detail in Chapter 2 of this dissertation. For example, Weckmann studied voice with

Caspar Kittel (1603 – 1639) who was another exemplary former student of Schütz at the Dresden

Court. Singing was not the only skill Weckmann learned in Dresden; he received organ lessons

from Johann Klemm as well.17 Klemm (ca. 1595 – 1651) was the Court Organist in Dresden at

the time, a previous pupil of Christian Erbach (ca. 1570 – 1635), who was a highly regarded

composer heavily influenced by — and well-trained in — the celebrated Italian style.18

Weckmann furthermore had access to some wonderful organs at the Dresden court. According to

Rampe, the exact dispositions of the instruments that Weckmann played in Dresden is

unknown19, but more information about these instruments and their immense influence on

Weckmann is provided in Chapter 3 of this dissertation.

Rampe theorizes that Weckmann’s education at the Dresden court was formative of his style, in

that it grounded Weckmann strongly in the musical traditions of central and south Germany

(themselves particularly subject to strong Italian influences).20 Indeed, it is convincingly

significant that musical styles from Italy and France had a pronounced influence on (and ended

up shaping) the musical traditions now typified by those of South/ Central Germany. These

musical traditions were, to a formidable extent, liturgically-based as well. Though Weckmann

came from a Protestant family, Central and South German regions were predominantly Catholic

at the time, and Catholicism tended to dictate conventions of musical style favoured by the courts

in those regions.21 Furthermore, the south of Germany in particular was greatly influenced by the



18 Siegbert Rampe, “Matthias Weckmann zum 400. Geburtstag,” Musik und Gottesdienst, 71. Jahrgang, (2017):12.

19 Rampe, 16.

20 Ibid.

21 Patrick Russill, "Catholic Germany and Austria 1648 – c1800," in The Cambridge Companion to the Organ, ed. Nicholas Thistlethwaite and Geoffrey Webber (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998).

5

Counter-Reformation in neighboring Austria, where Catholicism was prevalent, and Catholic

conventions often stood in diametrically opposed tension with those presented by the Protestant

Reformation.22

Ortgies raises the observation that, even though Schütz oversaw Weckmann’s musical education,

Schütz was not always the primary teacher for singing (nor indeed for organ). Because it was

Kittel and Klemm respectively who were responsible for training Weckmann in voice and organ

playing, it is unclear what precisely Schütz's specific pedagogical role was. Ortgies nevertheless

does maintain that Schütz must have had a direct impact on Weckmann's education by virtue of

his liturgical leadership role at Dresden (especially so after Schütz's return from one of his many

trips to Italy in November 1629).23 Significantly however, there is evidence that Schütz paid for

Weckmann’s instruction himself, suggesting a possible protégé relationship. The extent to which

being exposed to Schütz’s musicianship within such a privileged context could have inspired the

young Weckmann is hard to overstate; no doubt it provided a rich musical environment in which

his young mind could flourish. At the same time, such privilege may have been a double-edged

sword: Schütz undoubtedly inspired Weckmann, yet on the other hand (as Silbiger argues)

Weckmann was charged with an unbearable weight of tradition on his shoulders.24

Despite having the enormous opportunity and privilege of studying with Schütz, life was by no

means always easy nor generous to Weckmann. On the contrary, young Weckmann had major

obstacles to overcome already very early on in his life. Aside from losing his childhood home,

Weckmann also lost both his parents by the young age of 15, suffering a similar fate as had

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750). Critically, the impact of being orphaned at a young age

would have heightened the need for Weckmann to fend for himself, requiring that he learn from

an early age how to rise above difficult circumstances.

22 Russill, “Catholic Germany and Austria 1648 – c1800”.


24 See Alexander Silbiger, “Monteverdi, Weckmann and Schütz: the Weight of Tradition,” in Proceedings of the Matthias Weckmann Symposium, Göteborg, 30 August – 3 September 1991, ed. Sverker Jullander (Gothenburg: Skrifer från Musikvetenskapliga avdelningen, 1993).

6

But age 15 was to be serendipitous as well, for this was the year in which Weckmann's voice

changed. The voice break rendered Weckmann's voice too unsuitable for professional solo

singing25, and for this reason Schütz steered Weckmann onto a different musical path.26 What

seemed like a setback, however, transformed into an opportunity for great gain. In 1633 Schütz

would take his young student Weckmann to Hamburg (as the recipient of a scholarship) to study

with Jacob Praetorius II (1586 – 1651)27, and to experience the exquisite organs of that city

under the guidance of one of its most esteemed organists.

1.4 Influence of Jacob Praetorius in Hamburg

The time finally came for Schütz to release his protégé into the care of another mentor. In

September 1633, Schütz travelled with young Weckmann to study with Jacob Praetorius II in

Hamburg.28 Jacob Praetorius II was a student of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562 – 1621), the

famous organist in Amsterdam who attracted a large number of students, many of whom flocked

from North Germany to study with him. Through the connection to Sweelinck, Weckmann’s

training also (through Jacob Praetorius II) can thus be traced to an uninterrupted lineage of the

most influential composers in the North German tradition.29

In Hamburg, Weckmann was not the only student of Jacob Praetorius II. Studying alongside

Weckmann was Jacob Kortkamp (1615 – 1665), who became one of his cherished friends.30

Mattheson commented that these two were like Praetorius's "children, united in brotherly

25 Ortgies, “Neue Erkenntnisse”, 2. Mattheson writes that Weckmann's voice changed into an alto.


27 Ibid. The Elector of Saxony paid for the lessons, and the amount Weckmann received was 200 Reichstaler.


29 Note the nomenclature convention wherein some sources refer to him as Jacob Praetorius II, and some do not, i.e., simply calling the son Jacob, or Jacob Praetorius the younger (e.g. scholar Jeffery Kite-Powell).

30 Note that this Jacob Kortkamp is the father of Johann Kortkamp (Johann later studied with Weckmann and documented the important source material about registrational practice in the Organistenchronik).

7

love".31 The influence from Praetorius as teacher would have widened Weckmann's musical

horizons even more, building and expanding upon his central/south-German foundations.

During this same time, Weckmann also had the opportunity to hear the highly regarded Heinrich

Scheidemann (ca. 1595 – 1663) play the organ during Vespers at the church of St. Catherine

(Katharinenkirche) in Hamburg.32 Scheidemann was another significant organist within the

North German Baroque musical tradition, and he too had studied with Sweelinck in Amsterdam.

In a compelling anecdote, Baroque theorist Johann Mattheson observes that Weckmann ended up

combining both the seriousness of Praetorius's style and the charm Scheidemann's music

exuded.33

For the next three years, Weckmann studied organ playing, registration and composition with

Jacob Praetorius II.34 Mattheson comments on this, saying that Weckmann learned how to

compose in the “Praetorian” manner — and that he took his studies very seriously — learning

how to play the Vespers and all kinds of German sacred hymns.35 With respect to the "Praetorian

manner", one should bear in mind that Jacob Praetorius II is not to be confused with the author of

the treatise Syntagma Musicum, i.e. Michael Praetorius (who bears no relation to Jacob II and his

father Hieronymus). The meaning of the phrase the “Praetorian” manner could possibly include

the legacy from Jacob’s father, Hieronymus, who was a tremendously influential and significant

figure in the Hamburg organ scene.

31 Ortgies, “Neue Erkentnisse” mentions the quote from Mattheson, namely, "Jacobs-Kinder in brüderliche Liebe vereinigt worden", 4.

32 Rampe, “Matthias Weckmann zum 400. Geburtstag”, 12.

33 Johann Mattheson and Max Schneider, Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1994), 395.



8

1.5 Broader Significance of Syntagma Musicum as “Universal”

The Syntagma Musicum II of Michael Praetorius (1571 – 1621) was a strongly influential

treatise, and provides important context for a fuller understanding of Weckmann's music.36

Moreover, it is important to note that, in keeping with the idea of the "universal musician", the

practicing musicians of the time would have made it their business to be fully familiarized with

theoretical publications such as Syntagma Musicum. Indeed, Wolff claims that another one of the

requirements of being a "universal" musician in the 17th century was the ability to balance both

theory and practice37, implying that this balance had both scholarly foundation and practical

application. What a grand notion — that theory and practice worked together in harmony! The

scholarly foundation in place since the time of Michael Praetorius asserted that musicians

considered as "universal" would also have to had training in the Italian tradition of Zarlino;

Wolff mentions Weckmann and Reincken as examples.38 Indeed, evidence exists that as a

student of Jacob Praetorius II, Weckmann may have copied parts of Sweelinck's

Compositionsregeln, a theoretical treatise by Sweelinck based almost entirely on Zarlino's

counterpoint rules.39

It is possible to imagine — having learned composition from Jacob Praetorius II in tandem with

organ playing — that Weckmann would simultaneously have also developed critical skills in

improvisation. As will be seen later in this study, improvisation was a key competence that

organists of the 17th century needed to have, and arguably played a definitive role in

Weckmann’s life.40

36 Rampe, 16. Note that Michael Praetorius is not related to Jacob Praetorius II.

37 Christoff Wolff, “Dieterich Buxtehude and Seventeenth-Century Music in Retrospect,” in Church, Stage and Studio: Music and Its Contexts in Seventeenth Century Germany, ed. Paul Walker (Ann Arbor: UMI, 1990), 8.

38 Ibid.


40 See Reinhard Schäfertöns, "Die Organistenprobe – Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Orgelmusik im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert," Die Musikforschung 49/2 (1996): 142 – 152.

9

Weckmann studied with Jacob Praetorius II in Hamburg for a period of about three years (1633 –

ca.1636/7),41 and his relationship with Schütz continued — although by that time, more in the

capacity of a colleague, than as a student. We see one example of this in August 1637 when

Schütz entrusted Weckmann to head to Copenhagen, Denmark on his behalf and collect Schütz's

“best musical books”, which had been left there on a previous excursion. (Schütz had requested,

but was denied, permission to make the trip himself.)42 Ortgies also mentions some relevant

details found in the travel pass that documented Weckmann's journey to Copenhagen at this time,

and which evidence an important professional transformation in Weckmann: the pass mentions

that he was, by then, considered to be a fully trained organist — and thus capable of taking on

official duties.43 Interestingly as well, the travel pass mentions other places such as Holstein and

shows that the end station was not Copenhagen, indicating that Weckmann had been traveling

frequently.44

1.6 Return to Dresden

Weckmann's life journey is marked by departures from and returns to some of the same cities,

specifically Dresden and Hamburg. By the end of 1637 Weckmann returned to his first musical

home – Dresden. Weckmann's brother Andreas had finished his theological studies and joined

him there in 163845, and Weckmann in turn helped Andreas establish himself by securing a

position for his brother as an inspector and teacher.46 While together there, Weckmann

introduced his brother to influential members of society, including Heinrich Schütz, Lord Carol



43 The travel pass of "Mathes Weckmannen" names him "unsern Musicum und Organisten welchen wir eine geraüme Zeit bishero zu Hamburg, die Music ferner fortzustellen unf zuüben underhalten lassen, gegen Holstein und Dennemarck zureisen, ezliche zu seiner Kunst gehörige und uns zustendige sachen alda abzuholen..." Ortgies, “Neue Erkenntnisse”, 4.

44 Ortgies thinks this links Weckmann back to the Gottorfer Hof and Franz Tunder, “Neue Erkenntnisse”, 4.

45 Ibid.

46 Ibid. Weckmann secured his brother a job as a private tutor for a noble family.

10

Bosen and Matthias Hoe von Hoenegg, a leading Lutheran theologian and prosecutor.47 Indeed,

this not only suggests that Weckmann and his brother likely had a close familial relationship, but

also that together they forged influential professional networks in Dresden.

At the Dresden court, Weckmann became further acquainted with the Italian style, a musical

style highly in fashion at the time.48 There he gained an organist position at the Electoral chapel

and also joined a small, newly founded group of musicians called the "Kurprinzliche Kapelle".49

In doing so Weckmann was essentially working for the court both as accompanist and music

director. His first organ teacher from the early Schütz days, Johann Klemm, became the second

court organist in 1641, working alongside Weckmann. Because of Klemm's presence at court,

this meant that Weckmann, instead of playing the organ, had to teach the students in the Chapel

Boys choir.50 The following quote sheds some light on this practice from a contract issued

during Weckmann's time there, dated 14 September 1641:

"..And despite the fact that his Ducal highness has already created a particular order for the

maintenance and institution of the discantists, or choirboys…. Weckmann should, even

more often, rehearse the above-mentioned boys with a Regal or Positive, especially in

singing, and in this way help to train them that they might get used to singing purely and

all the more quickly reach perfection in music."51

Sadly, even though the Crown Prince was said to be a music lover, he was unable to hinder or

effectively mitigate the devastating effects that the Thirty Years' War (raging in Europe from


48 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 2. Also see Hans Davidsson, “’Misera et fames per annum 1663’” in Proceedings of the Matthias Weckmann Symposium, Göteborg, 30 August – 3 September 1991, ed. Sverker Jullander (Gothenburg: Skrifer från Musikvetenskapliga avdelningen, 1993), 58. The prince Johann Georg II preferred the Italian style.



51 Davidsson (1991:20) mentions the contract issue is probably by Schütz, and he quotes this passage from Ilgner.

11

1618 – 1648) had upon the city and his court musicians.52 The war created a dire financial

situation at the Dresden court. This was grave especially for the musicians. In 1642 Weckmann

and some of his fellow court musicians were still waiting to be paid their salaries, which were

already three years overdue at that point.53 It is not known how Weckmann could have survived

financially during this time, as he received virtually no salary from the court.

1.7 Escape to Denmark

In a sense, Weckmann's next move was dictated by external circumstances, and it is due to the

difficult financial circumstances at court that Weckmann relocated (in 1643) temporarily to

Denmark, where the musicians' salaries were unaffected by war.54 Weckmann was working for

the Crown Prince Christian IV, who was brother-in-law to the Elector of Saxony.55 In the city of

Nykøbing, Weckmann was named Capellmeister. Schütz established a new chapel there, with

Weckmann stepping into an organ position that was rather similar to the one he had at the

Dresden court.56 The duties of this position included playing the organ for services, concerts,

leading the continuo ensemble, and instructing young singers.57 Unfortunately not much is

known about the music Weckmann would have composed or performed during this time period.

1.8 Final Dresden Period

Around 1647, peace came to the region of Westfälia, signaling a period of transition and —

about four years later — Weckmann was summoned back to Dresden again. We know this from

the travel pass that was issued to Weckmann for this trip, showing the date as April 1647 and


53 Ibid.




57 Ibid. Weckmann taught them to sing properly in the "Italian manner".

12

with Dresden as the place of destination.58 Ortgies postulates that Weckmann's summoning back

to Dresden likely coincided with the death of Christian IV, Crown Prince of Denmark on

July 1, 1647,59 for which Weckmann would likely have taken part in the funeral procession. It is

unclear whether or not Weckmann made the trip back to Dresden directly, because there is

evidence that he spent some time in Hamburg and vicinity first.60

It is known definitively, however, that on this particular excursion Weckmann married Regina

Beute, daughter of the Council Lutenist (“Ratslautenisten”) in Lübeck on 31 July 1648.

Documentation from the Lübeck city archives confirms that Franz Tunder (1614 – 1667),

another well-known North German organist of the time, was best man at Weckmann’s

wedding.61

Though the precise timeline of the Hamburg stay is unclear, it is known to have been short, as

Weckmann and his wife headed back to Dresden. The newlyweds decided to establish their life

and make their home in Dresden around 1649/50. Weckmann's first wife bore him eight children,

three of which were born and christened as follows: Eva Christina (b.1657), Sophia Elizabeth

(b.1658) and Maria (b. 1660). Weckmann was promoted to “Inspector” of the Court Chapel.62

Some important musical friendships ensued in this time. In Dresden Weckmann encountered

virtuoso extroadinaire Johann Jacob Froberger (1616 – 1667) for the first time. This meeting

(and clashing) of musical minds proved to become a now famous anecdote of an improvisational


59 Ibid.

60 Davidsson and Ortgies discovered an inscription "15 Juni, 1647 Hamburgi" on a confirmed autograph in the manuscript KN 206 signed MW, but do not mention anything beyond that; Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 2.



13

showdown that ended in friendship.63 Mattheson writes about this meeting, claiming Weckmann

improvised upon a theme of Froberger for almost thirty minutes.

So impressed by Weckmann was Froberger, that he exclaimed — in front of the Crown Prince

— that Weckmann was indeed “a true virtuoso!”64 Their friendship continued and Froberger sent

Weckmann some manuscripts written in his own hand. It is this connection with Froberger that

also accounts for the Italian influence discernible in Weckmann’s keyboard pieces from this

period, such as the Toccata ex D, for example. However, despite these very interesting

anecdotes from Mattheson, there is very little other source material from which we can glean

more details about this period of Weckmann's life.65 It is also as yet unconfirmed whether

Froberger copied any pieces by Weckmann — an interesting question for future research.

As Weckmann's years advanced in Dresden, he furthered his professional connections there. For

example, Weckmann met Christoph Bernhard (1628 – 1692), and a strong friendship between

these two men developed that would feature again later on in Weckmann’s life.66 From the circle

of well-known musician acquaintances, one might note a conspicuous absence. It is unconfirmed

whether or not Dieterich Buxtehude (1637 – 1707) ever met Weckmann, though scholars

speculate that a meeting during the first brief Hamburg episode may have been possible, or even

previously during Weckmann's refuge in Denmark.67

Weckmann remained in Dresden for five more years, a city rather sensitive to political and

economic change, and as Davidsson extrapolates, would probably have not been as receptive to

63 Davidsson claims this is supported by an important document containing Froberger pieces in Weckmann's handwriting, namely the "Hintze" manuscript. Other supporting arguments for the lifelong friendship include "the Frobergian style of composition in the Lüneburger Clavierbüchlein", as well as an exchange of letters between the two musicians, Matthias Weckmann, 2.

64 Rampe, “Matthias Weckmann zum 400. Geburtstag”, 13. The original Mattheson quote of Froberger’s exclamation says, “Dieser ist wahrhafftig ein rechter Virtuos”.


66 Ibid.


14

Weckmann’s (later) style of contrapuntal complexity and compositional innovation.68 Scholars

attribute some of the earlier Weckmann keyboard Canzonas and Toccatas in South German and

Italian style as having come from this Dresden period.69 Weckmann also copied keyboard pieces

in French style that were preserved in the so-called "Hintze" manuscript70, though unfortunately

very little is known about these works as to date, and performances of these pieces are few to

non-existent as well.

1.9 Hamburg, City of Dreams

Weckmann's life changed significantly when, in 1655 he was asked to audition for the

prestigious position of organist at the large church of St. Jacobi (St. James' Church) in

Hamburg.71 Hamburg was a city whose cultural center had remained mostly unaffected by the

Thirty Years' War, thanks to some strategic political moves on the part of the ruling bodies.72

Located in the North of Germany, Hamburg was distinct in other ways as well: as Edler puts it,

"From ancient times the northern part of Germany had a social structure distinguished from that

of the rest of the empire."73

Hamburg, at the time, was a major city in the Hanse Federation, one which connected port towns

around the Baltic Sea since the Middle Ages. Foreign powers, including those of the Danish

King for example, ruled many of the Northern German coasts, and as a result there was a lack of

a strong central power in this area. Politically, this oriented the Hanse states more towards the

68 Davidsson, “Misera et fames”, 58.


70 See also Bob van Asperen, “A New Froberger Manuscript,” Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music 13, no. 1 (2007), https://sscm-jscm.org/v13/no1/vanasperen.html. Accessed January 4, 2021; and Siegbert Rampe, “Das 'Hintze-Manusckript' – Ein Dokument zu Biographie und Werk von Matthias Weckmann und Johann Jacob Froberger,” Schütz-Jahrbuch 19, (1997: 71 – 111).



73 Arnfried Edler, “Organ Music Within the Social Structure of North German Cities in the Seventeenth Century,” in Church, Stage and Studio: Music and Its Contexts in Seventeenth Century Germany, ed. Paul Walker (Ann Arbor: UMI, 1990), 23.

15

adjoining nations located to the north and east.74 Hamburg nonetheless made economic gains and

rose culturally, aided by merchants who helped to shape and boost the musical culture.75 Edler

goes on to explain that because of this situation, the prevailing culture in Hanseatic cities was

markedly different to the central and southern parts of Germany.

From the standpoint of religious demographics, Hamburg was a city with a majority of Lutheran

Protestant population at the time. Indeed, it would prove that the Lutheran conception of music

itself lit the spark for new musical developments to occur there.76 It is significant to note that

music made at the main churches of Hamburg became a major "artistic attraction" during the

mid-17th century — so much so, that as a visitor to Hamburg in 1657, one could purchase a guide

listing the dates, times and locations for services at which a polyphonic choir could be heard.77

Highly skilled organists were employed at all four of the main Hamburg churches; among them,

of course, were Weckmann at St. Jacobi, and Scheidemann at St. Katharinen.78

Johann Olfen, one of Weckmann’s old friends, recommended Weckmann as candidate for the

job opening at St. Jacobi to the Church Council79, and upon this recommendation Weckmann

was summoned from Dresden to audition for the post. A high level of competence was required

of Weckmann at this new job.80

74 Edler, “Organ Music”, 23.


76 Ibid.

77 Frederick K. Gable, “The Reconstruction of a Hamburg Hauptgottesdienst in 1660,” in Proceedings of the Matthias Weckmann Symposium, Göteborg, 30 August – 3 September 1991, ed. Sverker Jullander (Gothenburg: Skrifer från Musikvetenskapliga avdelningen, 1993), 105. These pamphlets also indicated where the most elaborate musical settings would take place.

78 Gable, “Reconstruction”, 105. The four main churches were the Petrikirche, Nikolaikirche, Katharinenkirche and the Jacobikirche.

79 See Ortgies, “Neue Erkenntnisse”, 16.


16

1.10 Audition at St. Jacobi

An exciting historical account penned by one of Weckmann's students, Johann Kortkamp, details

Weckmann's audition during the fall of 1655. Davidsson suggests that young Kortkamp likely

attended the event with the specific intention of hearing Weckmann play.81 Kortkamp's

document (Organistenchronik) details both the exceptional musical abilities that earned

Weckmann the position, and it is also regarded as one of the most important primary sources

outlining the liturgical demands faced by organists during the 17th century.82

The audition demanded the following:

1. Improvise a prelude. Kortkamp wrote that Weckmann created a magnificent fantasia

using the full organ ("im vollen Werck") on the first tone, but mixed the improvisation

with excursions to the third tone in a masterful way, eventually returning to the first mode

in dazzling fashion. The improvisation was apparently so brilliant, that it left the entire

jury speechless.83

2. Improvise on a given sacred hymn. Weckmann was given the hymn "An Waßerflüßen

Babylon", which he played "auff 2 Clavir" (meaning on two manuals) but using a unique

registration. Kortkamp notes that Weckmann employed the following combination he had

learned from Jacob Praetorius II 84:

Oberwerck: Trommete 8, Zinke 8, Nasat 3, Gemshorn 2, Hohlfleute 4 Fuß

Rücpositiv: Prinzipal 8, Oktave 4

Pedal: Posaune 16 Fuß, (Prinzipal- Baß 24)85, Trommete 8 und 4 Fuß, Cornet 2

81 Davidsson describes these events in dramatized fashion, Matthias Weckmann, iv. However, very few references are given in this dramatization, and so it is difficult to determine which elements can/ should be taken as fact or fiction. Reading the dramatized events does lead to the question, however, of when young Kortkamp began his organ studies with Weckmann. Did Kortkamp already know Weckmann before the audition?


83 Liselotte Krüger, “Johann Kortkamps Organistenchronik, eine Quelle zur hamburgischen Musikgeschichte des 17. Jahrhunderts,” Zeitschrift des Vereins für Hamburgische Geschichte, 23 (1933): 205.

84 Ibid.

85 I place the Prinzipal 24 Fuß in brackets because Weckmann had all of the above at his disposal on the St. Jacobi instrument that day, except for this particular stop, which according to Kortkamp's account, was out of order.

17

Kortkamp goes on to expand on how Weckmann treated the chorale melody.86

3. Proficiency in Generalbass. Weckmann was asked to accompany a violinist, Herr Schop.

Weckmann was judged on his ability to create an appropriate basso continuo

accompaniment. Weckmann demonstrated his keen ear and immediately noticed when

the violinist dropped a measure, and made Herr Schop well aware of his mistake. 87

4. Intabulate (from the bass) a motet in 6 voices by the late Hieronymus Praetorius.

Afterwards, Weckmann had to improvise variations on the motet on two manuals. This

practice likely involved what is referred to in German as "Motet-Schlagen". The tradition

of "Motet-Schlagen" was already prevalent since the 16th century, and involves realizing

a vocal motet on the keyboard, whenever the main choir was absent from a church

service.88

5. Improvise a fugue. In this final section of the audition, Weckmann created a “merry”

fugue (German: lustige Fuge), again using the full organ.

The decision of the jury was unanimous: Weckmann had succeeded, and was immediately

appointed to the post. At St. Jacobi, Weckmann held dual posts — working as organist, as well

as "Kirchenschreiber" — meaning, he kept records for the church as a particular kind of

bookkeeper.89 The records that Weckmann kept as a church administrator have provided

valuable information for musicological study today through the discernment of his handwriting.

Weckmann made his first entry (complete with his own signature) in the St. Jacobi church

records on 24 December 1655.90

Weckmann, however, was not the only organist with this kind of multifaceted music job in the

city. Johann Kortkamp (ca. 1643 – 1721), a student of Weckmann, also worked as organist and

86 Krüger, “Johann Kortkamp”, 206.

87 According to Mattheson, they performed a sonata. Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 7.

88 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 6 – 7.

89 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann , 3.


18

Kirchenschreiber of the Gertrudenkapelle in Hamburg.91 Likewise, Jacob Praetorius II

(Weckmann's previous teacher) had held a similar post.92

A great deal of Weckmann's surviving music stems from this Hamburg period, and there is

evidence that his musical output greatly increased during this time, compared to prior years.93

Just as Hamburg provided fertile ground for his talents to flourish, Davidsson concludes that

Weckmann conversely also had a positive influence on the cultural life of Hamburg.94 Moreover,

Weckmann did not simply contribute to the genre of keyboard music, but to other larger

instrumental and vocal forms and genres as well (mostly several church cantatas e.g. Wie liegt

die Stadt so Wüste, Weine nicht, etc. and instrumental sonatas).

With Weckmann becoming a citizen of Hamburg in 1660 (German: Bürgerrecht — in those

days, it was possible to achieve citizenship of a city, as opposed to a state or country), he was

arguably establishing the permanence of his position there.95 Consequently, not long thereafter,

he founded the Collegium Musicum, a group of diverse and highly skilled musicians, which

Mattheson described as achieving “... such fame that the great composers desired to associate

their names with it”.96 In the role of leading the Collegium Musicum, Weckmann was now

organizing public concerts, as well as continuing in his role of church musician.97


92 Krüger, “Johann Kortkamp”, 203.

93 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 3


95 It is unknown whether Weckmann applied for the citizenship, or whether he was granted citizenship because of his new position as organist at St. Jacobi. Citizenship in the 17th-century Germany was awarded based on certain criteria, such as noble birth, trade, or vocation, as well as being able to pay a certain amount of money. Hamburg, being a free imperial city, meant that the city authorities within were able to make their own decisions about such matters. My thanks to Prof. Maren Lorenz who kindly pointed this out to me, email correspondence dated 2019/11/12.


97 See Edler, “Organ Music”, 30.

19

The initiative of two influential music-loving citizens of Hamburg made the founding of the

Collegium Musicum possible.98 Within the Collegium Musicum, musicians had the ability to

purchase (and were given access to performing) newly-composed music from all the centers in

Europe considered culturally significant at the time.99 In so doing, Weckmann was empowered

to be more daring with what he composed for the musicians to play.100 Indeed, Weckmann was

in the rare position of being liberated from limitations imposed by a lack of resources or by

public opinion. Having had such freedom of artistic license to begin with, certainly speaks

volumes about the accommodating intellectual/musical climate of Hamburg at the time. The

citizenry likely had both time and financial means to accommodate this type of music, if indeed

such great interest for new music existed.101 Through leading the Collegium Musicum, and in

performing his duties at St. Jacobi, Weckmann contributed to the rich musical life and reputation

of Hamburg as a musical center. Davidsson goes on to deduce that, because of the number and

level of skilled musicians Weckmann had available, he could establish as advanced a difficulty

level for these cantatas as desired.102 Weckmann presided over enough musicians in order to

create and perform large-scale vocal cantatas at St. Jacobi, as well as potentially in other city

churches.103

1.11 Church Music and Life at St. Jacobi

The ways in which the organist position at St. Jacobi was especially interesting and unique

deserves some discussion. As one example, Weckmann was free to select both text and affect104


99 Ibid.

100 Ibid.

101 “The cultural ambitions of Hamburg lay behind the appointment of Weckmann to St. Jacobi” and this also helped spur on the idea of being more receptive towards artistic freedom; see Davidsson, “Misera et fames”, 56.


103 Davidsson alludes to the fact that performances at other churches was possible after Christoph Bernhard arrived, but does not mention particulars of other churches, if this were the case; see “Misera et fames”, 54.

104 The word “affect” is used here as a noun as opposed to a verb, and refers to an emotional state, passion, or sensation. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affect. Accessed 5 January 2021.

20

for his compositions at St. Jacobi.105 It was not typically the norm for a church musician to be in

the position of selecting texts for official church music. Weckmann was not restricted musically

by the church’s religious perspectives, nor seemingly by the demands of the position itself.106

Davidsson also points out that when Weckmann was appointed organist at St. Jacobi, he was not

obliged to compose what was then referred to as “Organistenmusik”.107 Such artistic freedom

would likely have appeared in stark contrast to the restrictions of Weckmann’s previous

positions at the noble courts of Dresden. Creation of autonomous music, as in the case of

Weckmann at St. Jacobi, was furthermore not simply tolerated by the Lutheran Church, but

actively appreciated and encouraged.108 Edler reinforces this point:

“artificial autonomous music....was.... required as the highest of all models of human

activity”.109

At a main church service (German: Hauptgottesdienst) of 1660, the music would have been

varied110, and at least two languages were used in the service (primarily Latin and German).

Gable identifies chants were sung in Latin by male voices, chorales by the congregation, prayers

and lessons intoned by boys and the Pastor in both Latin and German, as well as organ preludes

and chorale settings.111 There was a Sermon in Low German (although Gable does not mention

which regional dialect) a capella motets sung in Latin by the choir, modern sacred "concertos"

for solo voices with string and wind accompaniment, as well as older German religious songs.112


106 Ibid.

107 Davidsson explains in a footnote that ‘Organistenmusik’ was music made from the organ loft, which included both singers and instrumentalists. Davidsson, “Misera et fames”, 54.


109 Ibid.

110 Gable, “The Reconstruction”, 106.

111 Ibid.

112 Ibid.

21

A main church service likely lasted for as long as three hours, including the one-hour long

sermon.113 Significantly, from the moment that the first Reformation liturgical orders were

issued for use, no other liturgical collections were issued specifically for Hamburg churches until

after the year 1700.114 Consequently, the liturgical documents in use were implemented for an

exceptionally long period of time. Among these were three important musical sources:

1. Cantiones sacrae choralis (1587): a huge volume of Latin chant compiled and personally

copied by Hieronymus Praetorius; 2. Cantica sacra (1588) by Franz Eler, almost the same

collection of printed liturgical music, but with summary orders of services and low German

chorales; and 3. Melodeyen Gesangbuch (1604): chorale harmonizations by the four main

Hamburg church organists.115

In mid-17th-century Hamburg, art music as an integral part of Christian life became increasingly

prominent. As we have seen previously, and according to Davidsson, the church in Hamburg of

the 1660s “championed the idea of art music as essential part of Christian life” and they

encouraged their composers to create these kinds of art works voluntarily.116 Mattheson argued

the case for music as noble profession with the following anecdote:

"Music is a noble art and a great ornament of the noble spirit….[] ….But what a theologian

and a musician has learned on earth, that he also practices in heaven, namely, he praises

and glorifies God…if I wanted to study music, I would definitely not go to a German

University in a small town in the provinces, but I would rather go to Hamburg and seek out

the noble Scheidemann, the excellent Matthias Weckmann, the very famous Johann Schop,

and other artists whose like one cannot find in many Kingly, Electoral and Ducal

Chapels."117



115 Ibid.



22

Weckmann, like his teacher Praetorius before him, used his music to persuade listeners and to

influence them.118 In Hamburg, Weckmann renewed his acquaintance with the St. Jacobi cantor,

Christoph Bernhard (1628 –1692). As stated earlier, Bernhard had been a person of significance

in Weckmann’s life, and also the author of an important Baroque Treatise on musical style called

Tractatus Compositionis Augmentatus.119 This treatise became influential on Baroque style

interpretation for composers and performers alike. Notably, besides his musical friends,

Weckmann also had support from the vicar at St. Jacobi, which no doubt strengthened and

promoted the artistic freedom he enjoyed at the church.120

1.12 Social Status of the Organist in the Lutheran Church

After the Reformation, organists in the Lutheran cities were generally regarded as having a

higher social status; this status continued to advance during the 16th- and 17th centuries.121 Edler

claims that the function of the organist changed from that of “spiritual office to a modern

profession”122, adding that such professional achievement in turn led to greater competition,

which subsequently led to a rise in competency. Davidsson emphatically confirms this, adding

that in Hamburg, organists “dominated the musical life” during the 17th century.123 Davidsson

further asserts that Weckmann was expected to “make Hamburg a melting-pot for the musical



120 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 3 notes that Weckmann, "supported by the controversial but respected Pastor Johan Balthasar Schupp, helped an already lively church music tradition to flourish". This Pastor Schupp was an intelligent man, skillful in the art of speaking, popular with “ordinary people”; Davidsson, “Misera et fames”, 57.


122 Ibid.


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avant-garde of the time” and was consequently expected to produce music with a “personal

stamp” – although this point is not entirely convincing.124

Davidsson does claim that organists were esteemed highly within the church, and even thought

of as more important than other musicians — but this claim is also debatable, considering that

the Cantor was often in competition (and conflict!) with the organist.125

1.13 Tentative Chronology and Final Period

An approximate chronology of Weckmann's works can be established by tracing dates back from

the Hamburg period. For example, one of the surviving manuscripts copied by Johann Kortkamp,

dated 14 July 1664, contains an organ piece by Weckmann: Magnificat Secundi Toni,

4 verso.126 Maus (2016) provides a table with an approximate chronology and sources.127

Perhaps ironically, just when Weckmann had found stability and success in his life, tragedy

struck again. Weckmann’s younger brother Andreas died in 1662, and in the year immediately

following, the pestilence befell Hamburg.128 Weckmann saw the deaths of many of his

colleagues as well — most of them succumbing to the plague in the years that followed, and

sadly his wife passed away in 1665.129 Though extremely prolific, Weckmann became sensitized

and aware of the fragility of life, and at this point bought himself a grave in St. Jacobi church,

located by the organ underneath the left pedal tower.130

124 Davidsson, “Misera et fames”, 56. No evidence is presented, however, substantiating the claim that the people of Hamburg would have expected music with “a personal stamp”. Instead, they might have wanted music that would be as cosmopolitan as their city was; Weckmann’s musical training reflected that diversity of style, in accordance with the concept of the “universal musician”.



127 Maus, Matthias Weckman, xliii – xlv.

128 Davidsson,“Misera et fames“, 57.


130 Ibid.

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After these major life setbacks, Weckmann had to fend for his family in new ways. He remarried

in 1666, his second wife being Catharina Roland. Unfortunately, Weckmann’s health had

become poor, and his musical output inevitably declined. On 24 February 1674 Matthias

Weckmann passed away. His close friend Christoph Bernhard (cantor at St. Jacobi) conducted

In te Domine speravi, a cantata by Weckmann (unfortunately now lost), at his funeral.131

1.14 Weckmann’s Children

From his second marriage to Catharina, Weckmann had twin daughters, Agnetha and Gesta, who

were both baptized in July 1671. Their godmother ("Patin") was Christoph Bernhard's wife,

Christina Barbara Bernhard.132 Ortgies postulates that Agnetha’s twin sister Gesta died very

young, and was buried soon after being baptized on 21 July 1671.133 From existing

documentation some very few — yet intriguing — facts about Agnetha’s life are known. For

example, we know that Agnetha Weckmann had to pay 40LM134 for lifetime access to a church

seat near the pulpit side in St. Jacobi ("auf Lebenszeit").135 The chosen name "Agnetha" is

interesting also, because it is not a typical German name, but rather associated with Scandinavian

countries (especially Denmark or Sweden). According to the St. Jacobi archives, Agnetha

married a man by the name of Emanuel Zell on 8 November 1696.

One of the Lüneburg manuscripts, KN 226 named the "Musikalisches Seelenparadies" (Musical

Paradise for/of the Soul) that appeared in print during 1660 is dedicated with an inscription to

Agnetha Weckmann, containing devotional continuo-songs set to religious texts by Johann Rist

(1607 —1667), a famous Protestant German religious poet of that time.136 Davidsson mentions




134 LM = Lübsche Mark, currency of that time.



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that the book contains her father Weckmann’s handwriting — with texts that he underlined —

and theorizes that the manuscript was probably given to Agnetha as a family heirloom.137

After Weckmann’s death, his daughter Maria from his first marriage (baptized in 1660) was

given into the care ("Vormundschaft") of two Hamburg citizens, Daniel Vestman and Joachimus

Bossouw on 16 December 1674.138 Ortgies explains that Maria had to be financially assisted in

this way, because she was a child of Weckmann's first marriage, and therefore not ‘protected

under the tradition’ that was then in place of remarriage to the successor organist of St. Jacobi.

Conversely Agnetha, being a child of the second marriage, therefore would be cared for by

Heinrich Frese, Weckmann’s successor, as would her mother Catharina (whom he married in

1675). Weckmann had previously already applied for scholarships for his two sons to study in

Wittenberg (1665 – 1667). In so doing, their futures were provided for.

Maria Weckmann remained single as far as we know, and she entered a Franciscan convent, the

Maria-Magdalenen-Kloster from September 1683 onwards, and became a Sister there.139 The

convent ensured her survival at a subsidized fee, which she paid in cash upon entry.140 It is not

known whether there remained any documents related to her father within her possession at the

convent, as the convent was eventually destroyed in the 1943 World War II bombings of

Hamburg. Interestingly, Weckmann's son Jakob Weckmann (1643 – 1680) became the organist

of the St. Thomas church in Leipzig during 1672, becoming one of the many predecessors to

J.S. Bach.141

There is much to learn from Weckmann’s compositions and the musical legacy of improvisation

he left behind. A full and close analysis of his organ compositions will shed valuable light on




140 Perhaps her two sponsors enabled her to pay this fee.

141 Klaus Beckmann, Die Norddeutsche Schule: Orgelmusik im protestantischen Norddeutschland zwischen 1517 und 1755, Teil II Blütezeit und Verfall (Mainz: Schott, 2009), 212.

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both elements of the stylus phantasticus, its improvisational connections, and the questions of

authorship that have arisen over time. Conventions of organ construction, as well as further

details on Weckmann’s life and his varied experience will provide a more complete picture of

the critical importance and genius of this artist, and help answer the many intriguing questions

around his music.

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Chapter 2 Weckmann’s Teachers

Weckmann’s Teachers

2.1 Heinrich Schütz (1585 – 1672)

Weckmann's first formal teacher, Heinrich Schütz, is a compelling figure in the history of

German music. Although he is relatively well-known today and his music extensively performed,

Schütz's upbringing and career path included a few unconventional twists and unexpected turns.

As one example, Schütz's parents wanted him to study law rather than music142, which he

pursued briefly yet successfully. Soon thereafter, however, Schütz took his fate into his own

hands, travelled to Venice in 1609 and completed an apprenticeship as a composer with the

illustrious Italian Giovanni Gabrieli — the only man Schütz would ever acknowledge as his

teacher.143

Though he ultimately did not become a practicing lawyer, Schütz's short-lived stint in law school

probably was not entirely unfruitful, as it likely aided in preparing him for the prestigious yet

demanding career as future Dresden Kapellmeister.144 Esteemed and prominent as the post of

court Kapellmeister may have seemed, the challenges that came with it were enormous. Being

Kapellmeister at a noble court often meant limited artistic and professional freedom — and in

Schütz's case — also meant that he was expected to work long beyond retirement, at the mercy

142 Joshua Rifkin, Eva Linfield, Derek McCulloch, and Stephen Baron, “Heinrich Schütz,” in Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online (Oxford University Press, 2001). Rifkin et al. quotes Schütz in a translation saying that "it was never the will of my late parents that I should make a profession of music either this day or the next", 2001:1. Schütz's father hailed from a prominent family, also in charge of running the family inn in the rural town of Weissenfels during Schütz's childhood. Schütz studied music as a young boy with the Kantor in Weissenfels. Also see “Heinrich Schütz Haus”, https://schuetzhaus-weissenfels.de/en/museum-english/heinrich-schutz-haus/. Accessed 9 April 2020.

143 Joshua Rifkin, Eva Linfield, Derek McCulloch, and Stephen Baron, “Heinrich Schütz,” in Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online (Oxford University Press, 2001), accessed April 17, 2020.

144 Among Schütz's duties at the Dresden court were "keeping the Kapelle adequately staffed, ensuring proper living conditions for its members and supervising the musical education of the choirboys", Rifkin et al. “Schütz”, 4.

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of both the nobility and outside political forces.145 Schütz needed to advocate often for his own

court musicians, sometimes amidst extremely challenging financial conditions, of which a

striking example can be found in a letter dated 19 August 1651: "…I report to you briefly….that

there has long been unbearable, tremendous privation and lamenting amongst the entire electoral

musical assembly."146 In the same document, Schütz proceeds to illustrate a particularly dire

situation experienced by the court Bassist:

"I do not wish to importune my Highly Esteemed Herr with the particulars of every need

and shameful condition, but just for those concerning our Bassist. I hear that he subsists like

a sow in a pig-sty, has no bedding, sleeps on straw, and has already pawned his coat and

doublet. His wife came to me yesterday, and begged me for God's sake that I would show

them fatherly charity and help them get away".147

As seen in the examples above, the aftermath of the Thirty Years' War presented particular

challenges. The Dresden court struggled financially, and Schütz had little choice but to make

several persistent pleas for the payment of the salaries that were owed to the musicians. Schütz's

skillset beyond his musical duties therefore included negotiation, being adept at spotting,

procuring, and nurturing talent for the court Kapelle, and even dealing with potentially

“unwelcome” candidates, such as Johann Georg Hofkontz.148

Schütz was notably distinguished as being among the first German composers who extensively

published his music and disseminated these publications widely.149 In addition to bringing the

145 See the discussion in Mary E. Frandsen, "Allies in the Cause of Italian Music: Schütz, Prince Johann Georg II and Musical Politics in Dresden", Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 125 (2000).

146 Johnston, A Heinrich Schütz Reader, 191.

147 Johnston, A Heinrich Schütz Reader, 192. Further examples of Schütz's ability to advocate can be seen in the many letters that Schütz wrote to the Elector of Saxony and other court officials; see Johnston, A Heinrich Schütz Reader.

148 Hofkontz was a tenor whose ambition it was to become vice-Kapellmeister at the Dresden court; in fact, he performed the duties for the post (which at that point had laid vacant for many years) but Schütz engaged in a prolonged battle to attempt to convince the Elector to let Hofkontz go, since Schütz did not consider Hoftkontz's qualifications to be suitable for the position. Frandsen, “Allies”, 9 – 12.

149 In 1618 Schütz already applied for printing privileges from the Elector, Rifkin et al. “Schütz”, 5.

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Italian style to Germany after his studies with Gabrieli in Italy, the significant scope of Schütz's

skills and talents (especially as a composer of large volumes of high quality choral and

instrumental music)150 solidified his position as an artist of great standing. With this background

in mind, how can Schütz's role in Weckmann's education and musical formation be understood?

Schütz clearly influenced Weckmann's education in numerous direct and indirect ways, though

with regards to musical style, a lack of available evidence limits the degree to which a full and

concrete picture of Schütz's musical influence may be ascertained. For example, while there is

no definitive evidence that Schütz taught Weckmann how to play the organ directly, there also is

no evidence that he never did. While the name Heinrich Schütz is almost invariably absent from

discussions of Baroque organ music in general, he was clearly engaged with the instrument at a

deep level.151 Schütz did not leave behind any compositions that were specifically for organ

alone. Faulkner maintains that although Schütz was never hailed as a virtuoso of the organ,

Schütz "remained in close contact with the instrument throughout his long career".152

More importantly, had Schütz not spotted Weckmann's aptitude and affinity for the organ at a

young age, Weckmann likely would not have had either the opportunity or the financial means to

deepen his study of the instrument with Jacob Praetorius II in Hamburg.153 Schütz also would

have greatly helped advance Weckmann's organist training by facilitating his exposure to large

and noteworthy instruments beyond those available in Dresden. As one important example,

Schütz himself took the young Weckmann to Hamburg in the fall of 1633, demonstrating a

150 Schütz' prolific output can be seen in the more than 500 almost exclusively sacred works that have been preserved. Although, one must admit that from Frandsen (2000) it becomes clear that it is not immediately obvious that high musical quality was necessarily the first criterion under consideration whenever musicians were chosen for the Kapellmeister post.

151 The problem is that we have no real evidence of what Schütz's true accomplishment level on the organ was, other than by means of anecdotal evidence; Gerhard Kirchner, Der Generalbass bei Heinrich Schütz (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1960), 26 mentions that there is evidence Schütz was well acquainted with the organ; for example his first appointment as court organist in Kassel, as well as being mentioned in the poems of Johann Seusse.

152 Quentin Faulkner, “Schütz and the Organ,” The American Organist, Vol. 19 (October 1985): 68.

153 Recall that Weckmann was orphaned as a young boy, and so his prospects for a musical career would otherwise have been meager or perhaps even non-existent.

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notable degree of personal investment in his education.154 Perhaps such action stemmed from

the knowledge that Schütz's own father had never really supported him for a musical career: by

providing for young Weckmann, Schütz could thus honor a similar intervention he received in

his own youth from Landgrave Moritz of Kassel.155 From a stylistic standpoint, Schütz provided

Weckmann with early exposure to the much sought-after Italian style at the Dresden court, and

also arguably helped shape Weckmann's appreciation for the organ as a principally vocal

instrument.156

The nature of Weckmann’s learning counterpoint and composition from Schütz is similarly

challenging to precisely ascertain. While scholars including Silbiger (1991) have cited examples

from vocal cantatas to illustrate how Weckmann may have incorporated certain structural ideas

from Schütz into his own vocal compositions, more comprehensive and detailed stylistic

evidence has not, to date, been collected for study.157 Linfield does note, for example, Schütz's

progressive style in the application of dissonance in his madrigals, and suggests that perhaps

Weckmann followed suit in this regard.158 Unfortunately, we do not have any madrigals by

Weckmann as a basis for definitive comparison.

While care indeed must be taken to not hastily ascribe generalities of compositional style being

passed down from teacher to student, the music of both Schütz and Weckmann clearly shows

that both composers highly valued the integration of the spoken word with the music to which

154 Beckmann, Die Norddeutsche Schule II, 211.

155 The Landgrave Moritz of Hessen-Kassel had recognized Schütz's talent upon hearing the young boy sing during a visit to the Schütz family inn in 1598; see Rifkin et al. “Schütz”, 1. If it were not for the Landgrave taking Heinrich in and providing for his early musical education, the likelihood of Schütz becoming a professional musician would have been slim due to significant family pressure. The Landgrave Moritz further provided for Schütz's education with a scholarship of 200 thaler/year, Rifkin et al. 2001:2.

156 In Der Generalbass bei Heinrich Schütz, Kirchner states that "Von der Orgel spricht er wie von etwas Selbsverständlichem", pointing to how the organ was integral to the music of Schütz's vocal compositions, 15.

157 It may be possible to draw a broad / general link from Gabrieli's contrapuntal practices to Schütz, and through to Weckmann, because Gabrieli is said to have trained his students rigorously in traditional counterpoint, but gave them leeway to accommodate and incorporate licences for dissonance use and treatment just like we see in both Schütz and Weckmann's music. See Rifkin et al., “Schütz”, 3; and Konrad Küster, "Weckmann und Mölich als Schütz-Schüler," Schütz-Jahrbuch, Vol. 17, (1995).

158 Linfield, in Rifkin et al., “Schütz”, 22.

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they set their texts. 159 One example by Weckmann shown below in Figure 1 vividly illustrates

this point.

Figure 1: Bass Recitative from Weckman's Cantata "Weine nicht", Showing the Text-to-

Music Relationship

The excerpt above is taken from the bass solo recitative in Weckmann's cantata, Weine nicht, es

hat Überwunden der Löwe vom Stamm Juda (Weep not, for the Lion of Judah has triumphed).

The recitative starts off as if emerging from a void on a bright C-major chord, together with these

comforting words.160 Note the repetition of the words "der Löwe vom Stamm Juda" (The Lion of

Judah) successively on the D major chord in m. 7 as an even brighter sonority followed by a

long, impressive descending virtuosic operatic melisma that requires magnificent breath control

from the singer in mm. 8 – 13. The melisma starts from the upper range of the Bass D3, all the

way down — two octaves below to the D1 — at the very extreme of the lower range, depicting

both strength and the deep roots of "die Wurzel Davids" (the root of David). The excerpt evokes

159 Linfield in Rifkin et al, “Schütz”, 21; and Silbiger, in “Monteverdi, Schütz and Weckmann” also points this out.

160 Cf. the Bible, Revelation 5:5 "See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root (source) of David, has won (has overcome and conquered)!"

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the text specifically in that it musically supports the affect of confidence, trustworthiness, and

foundation of faith in the "Lion of Judah" that has overcome the power of death.

The cantatas of Schütz are full of examples that demonstrate a similar principle of tying the

musical ideas directly to the text, and therefore it is not far-fetched to believe that Weckmann

might have been inspired to adopt a similar approach. As one example, consider the short excerpt

by Schütz below (Figure 2), in which the soprano sings the words "Hoch gelobt sei Gott"

(Highly to be praised is God). Starting in F major, the singer sings a rising arpeggio on the F-

major chord, using rhythmic repetitions, and mimics a grand trumpet fanfare in which the words

"high praise" occurs on the highest note in the phrase. Schütz uses the authentic cadence in D to

confirm this praise with certainty:

Figure 2: Heinrich Schütz, from Kleine Geistliche Konzerte, op. 8 SWV 282

Lastly, consider the degree to which Schütz surrounded Weckmann with musical colleagues at

the Dresden court. Some of these individuals were to become Weckmann’s lifelong friends and

professional colleagues, and thus exerted demonstrably direct bearing on his formation. Chief

among the musicians in this category are Christoph Bernhard (1628 – 1692) and Johann Klemm

(c. 1593–1660).161 Another important lifelong colleague relationship was established with Jacob

161 Christoph Bernhard was another favourite pupil of Schütz who ultimately became one of Weckmann's best friends; Kirchner, Die Generalbass, 18. Schütz asked Bernhard to compose a funeral piece for him.

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Kortkamp (c. 1615 – 1665)162 which came to emerge during Weckmann’s further studies with

Jacob Praetorius.

2.2 Jacob Praetorius II (8 February 1586 – 21 October 1651)

Although a detailed biographical account of Jacob Praetorius II is beyond the scope of this

dissertation, it is nevertheless important to provide key contextual information in order to better

understand the teacher-student relationship between Jacob Praetorius II and Weckmann. Jacob

Praetorius II was born into a dynasty of prominent organists, all of whom were active in the inner

city of Hamburg for over 100 years.163 Jacob Praetorius II became the organist and church scribe

(Kirchenschreiber) of the St. Petri church at the young age of 17 (around 1603/4) and remained

in that post for the rest of his life.164 Apart from gaining such a prominent post early on in life,

Jacob Praetorius II also contributed no fewer than 19 of the chorale harmonizations published in

the 1604 Hamburg Melodeyen Gesangbuch. Indeed, his youthful achievements show the extent

to which Praetorius was accomplished well beyond his years.

Jacob Praetorius II (subsequently Jacob Praetorius — not to be confused with his paternal

grandfather of the same name) was Schütz's mentor of choice for young Weckmann. It is

hypothesized that Weckmann spent approximately three or four years in Hamburg, studying both

organ playing and composition with Jacob Praetorius from 1633 to 1636/7.165 Belotti has

described Jacob Praetorius as both a master of instrumental counterpoint and a virtuoso, who

162 It is not known whether Weckmann ever met Berendt Petri, the scribe of the Visby Tablatures (1611) and another student of Jacob Praetorius. See Jeffrey Kite-Powell, The Visby (Petri) Organ Tablature: Investigation and Critical Edition (Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichshofen, 1979). The Visby Tablatures manuscript contains important sources regarding liturgy, improvisation, and pieces from the Hamburg school of the late 16th- / early 17th century.

163 The Praetorius dynasty included Jacob Praetorius I (the Elder), Hieronymus Praetorius and Jacob Praetorius II (the Younger). Originally, they had the surname "Schulze / Schulte", and changed their surname to the Latin equivalent "Praetorius".

164See Michael Belotti, "Jacob Praetorius – ein Meister des Instrumentalen Kontrapunkts," Schütz-Jahrbuch 18, (1996): 100.

165 Davidsson suggests September 1633 as the start date of Weckmann's studies with Jacob Praetorius in Hamburg, and adds that this endeavor was at the Elector of Saxony's expense; Davidsson Matthias Weckmann, 1. Before the availability of current updated research, scholars sometimes accepted and assumed Mattheson's erroneous date of 1637 as the start of Weckmann's studies in Hamburg.

34

could adeptly showcase the improvisatory possibilities of the organ.166 As we will see in

Chapter 4 of this dissertation (which provides a detailed analytical study of Weckmann's organ

music), both qualities of virtuosity and contrapuntal mastery are clearly seen in Weckmann's

organ music as well.

The initial Hamburg years of 1633 – 1636/7 arguably must have been a fascinating period for

Weckmann, signifying a chapter of immense artistic growth. Not only would Weckmann have

benefitted from hearing, observing, and experiencing many renowned, highly-esteemed organists

of inner-city Hamburg (including the amiable and talented Heinrich Scheidemann at St.

Katharinen) but he would also have had access to the marvelous instruments and on-going organ

building projects by the pioneer organ builder Gottfried Fritzsche167 that were taking shape in

those churches.

Notably, Jacob Praetorius was highly regarded in Hamburg both as a musician, teacher and as an

individual; by all accounts, Jacob Praetorius indeed would have been considered a good choice

of mentor for Weckmann. As further evidence, significant personal anecdotes survive from

musicians168 as well as citizens169 that were active in Hamburg's local administrative bodies and

membership associations170 praising Jacob Praetorius's character and musical ability.171 A

translation is given below for an excerpt from one of these well-known passages about Jacob

Praetorius:

166 Belotti, "Jacob Praetorius”, 104.

167 Gottfried Fritzsche (1578 – 1638), organ builder.

168 Most famous are the extensive anecdotes by his student Jacob Kortkamp's son, Johann Kortkamp in his Organistenchronik, and much later by Johannes Matthesson in his Grundlage einer Ehrenpforte.

169 Jacob Praetorius was lauded in a thirteen-stanza poem by the Hamburg poet and music-lover Johann Rist (1607 – 1667). The whole poem is published in Johann Kortkamp's Organistenchronik.

170 Beckmann lists these in Die Norddeutsche Schule, but unfortunately does not provide any more information beyond their mere titles, 150.

171 Krüger, “Johann Kortkamp” provides the full account of these well-known anecdotes.

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This man's artistic and academic172 skills have not been equaled in this time, furthermore he is esteemed by both persons

of noble and humble standing; He cultivated from his youth the special technique of playing in "Kirchen Stilo"173, so that he played in a dignified manner very reverently, and could greatly animate the

hearts of listeners, those about to hear the sermon…

Dieses Mannß geschicklichkeit Kunst vnd wißenschafft zu dieser Zeit, ist seines gleichen nicht bekannt, ferner beÿ Hohen und Niedrigen Standes Persohnen estomiret, Er hat sich beflißen von Jugend auff einer sonderliche Methode im Kirchen Stilo, daß Er Gravitetisch vnd sehr andächtig spielte, vnd die Hertzen zu Anhörung der Predigt sehr animiren konnte...174

A close examination of Praetorius's organ music speaks strongly to a daring and innovative spirit

that clearly evokes a similar spirit in Weckmann's music as well. Praetorius's openness to

innovation and technological advancement can also be abundantly asserted through his

commissioning of the expansion into a large 3-manual instrument at the church of St. Petri,

Hamburg during 1633 – 1634. For this installation, Praetorius supported numerous additions and

technologies which were novel and innovative for organ building at the time; he also continued

to welcome and initiate several ambitious improvements to the organ at the St. Petri during his

tenure. Rodgers claims that Praetorius, in doing so, became “a champion of the organ builder

Gottfried Fritzsche”, one of the greatest unsung heroes of organ building during the

17th century.175 Weckmann was in Hamburg precisely during this time, and would have

witnessed the organ restoration and building projects firsthand, drawing great inspiration. Indeed

it is important to realize, especially for future scholars of music history, how the building of an

impressive high-quality instrument can and does powerfully impact and inspire musicians. Music

always flows forth from a beautiful instrument.

172 The word "Wissenschaft" in German could imply several different disciplines, depending on the context.

173 A term combining a German word and an Italian word, probably referring to the contrapuntal style associated with the stylus gravis or "church style" that was generally considered to be stricter contrapuntal treatment when writing for the church than for secular music in the seconda prattica.

174 Excerpt from Johann Kortkamp's Organistenchronik, as given in Beckmann, Die Norddeutsche Schule, 164.

175 Lindsey Henriksen Rodgers, “The North German Chorale Fantasia: A Sermon Without Words,” (DPhil diss., University of Oregon, 2013), 119.

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While Weckmann's link to Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck via Jacob Praetorius is important to

consider, there are numerous questions surrounding the nature of this link which at present

extend beyond the scope of the study.176 It should be stated, however, that the presence of an

important treatise provides a compelling link between all three names (Weckmann, Praetorius

and Sweelinck): the Sweelinck Compositionsregeln. Specifically, scholars including Walker have

identified both Jacob Praetorius and Matthias Weckmann as scribes who participated in writing

this treatise.177 While a modern edition of a full and accurate transcription of this fascinating

document is unfortunately not yet available, this large counterpoint treatise — in multiple

manuscripts — contains, amongst other things, interpretations and applications of the

contrapuntal theory of Zarlino that was apparently taught to his students and adapted by

Sweelinck in his own way. The rediscovery of this treatise calls for a thorough scholarly

investigation to help answer some of these larger questions around the connection of the

teachings of Sweelinck, Zarlino, Praetorius, Weckmann and Reincken (who ended up rewriting a

large part of the treatise, renamed it, and ascribed much of the material to himself). To strengthen

the point of using historical treatises as practical sources of information today, William Porter

has emphasized that the counterpoint examples from these treatises need to be played and thus

applied practically— not simply studied theoretically.178

176 Jacob Praetorius studied with Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, for a short period during his teens at the start of the 17th-century. Praetorius's studies with Sweelinck equipped him with multifaceted contrapuntal techniques, and led several scholars to include Praetorius by proxy as belonging to the so-called "Sweelinck lineage", which makes sense - considering that Mattheson also describes Praetorius taking on "Sweelinck's mannerisms"; in addition to that, some scholars go on to ascribe the Hamburg organ school's success largely to the tutelage of Sweelinck. However, musicologist Klaus Beckmann (2009) controversially contends that Sweelinck's stylistic influence on Jacob Praetorius was less prominent than previously assumed, and that the evidence for an indigenous Hamburg musical style (which was directly inherited from his father Hieronymus) is much more likely. Belotti (2005) counter argues that Jacob Praetorius used counterpoint more "artistically and on a linear level" compared to his father Hieronymus, and thus did not absolutely follow his father's examples.

177 Paul Walker, “From Renaissance Fuga to Baroque Fugue: The Role of the Sweelinck Theory Manuscripts,” Schütz-Jarbuch 7- 8, (1985/6): 95. Ulf Grapenthin has argued that Weckmann was not in fact a participatory scribe, but he has not explained why Weckmann's initials MW appeared in both Manuscripts A and C. See Ulf Grapenthin, “The Transmission of Sweelinck's 'Composition Regeln',” in Sweelinck Studies: Proceedings of the International Sweelinck Symposium Utrecht 1999, ed. Pieter Dirksen (Utrecht: STIMU, 2002).

178 See William Porter, “Johann Herbst's Arte Prattica & Poetica: A Window into German Improvisational Practice in the Mid-seventeenth Century,” in Orphei Organi Antiqui: Essays in Honor of Harald Vogel, ed. Cleveland Johnson (Orcas, WA: Westfield Center, 2006).

37

The writings of Johann Kortkamp show that Weckmann learned some particular registration

techniques from Jacob Praetorius.179 Significantly, Jacob Praetorius is one of the first organist-

composers from whom we have particular and detailed registrations being passed down in

historical documents. The noteworthy nature of Praetorius's art of registration is also discussed

more comprehensively in Belotti (2005).180 Praetorius notably favoured reed-based stops as

foundations, and in so-doing, likely established the practice of selecting a colourful combination

of stops that came to typify much of North German Baroque organ music (for example, selecting

a colourful or strong reed like the Trompete 8' with Flute 4' instead of using the more typical

Principal 8' with a similarly scaled 4' register). In fact, Weckmann is known to have used this

precise registration at his St. Jacobi audition – see Chapter 3 on Registration for more details.

Not coincidentally, we see the fascinating concordance between the names of these colourful

stops on the organs and the instruments referred to in the treatise Syntagma Musicum of Michael

Praetorius.

Jacob Praetorius also used a unique "Auff 3 clavier" designation in some of his Chorale-based

Works for organ. The “Auff 3 clavier” designation refers to a manner of dividing the hands and

feet (or the different voices on the organ between the available manuals and pedals). This

particular arrangement is seen more rarely than the abundant "Auff 2 clavier" designations in

early baroque music of the period. It is not known, however, whether Weckmann ever used the

"Auff 3 clavier" idea in his organ works or improvisations, as none of the extant Weckmann

manuscript copies contain such an inscription.

As opposed to the music of Schütz (where a lack of organ music prevents comparison), it is most

fortunate that we can compare Weckmann's music to that of Jacob Praetorius's, especially with

the recent release of Michael Belotti's fine editions of the latter's music. A detailed comparison

would indeed be a welcome future outgrowth of this dissertation. Jacob Praetorius's oeuvre for

179 See Chapter 3 of this study for more detailed information regarding registrational practice in Weckmann’s organ music.

180 Michael Belotti, “Die Registrirung des seel. Jacob Schultzen: Zur Wiedergabe der Orgelmusik von Jacob Praetorius,” in 375 Jahre Scherer-Orgel Tangermünde, ed. Christoph Lehmann (Berlin: Verlag Freimut & Selbst, 2005), 43.

38

the organ includes three Praeambula, six Magnificat settings181 and seven Chorale-based Works.

Praetorius also contributed 19 harmonizations of melodies that were included in the Hamburg

Melodeyen Gesangbuch (1604).182

A comparison of the titles of all the known Chorale-based Works of both Jacob Praetorius and

his student Matthias Weckmann is shown in Table 1. From the comparison, I attempted to list

chorale melodies dealing with similar liturgical content side by side, but from the table it became

apparent that no two Chorale-based Works with the exact same title survived in both Praetorius’s

and Weckmann’s oeuvres:

Table 1: Titles and Dates of the Chorale-based Works of Praetorius and Weckmann

Jacob Praetorius Matthias Weckmann

Christum wir sollen loben schon Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet

Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (fragment) Es ist das Heil uns kommen her

Grates nunc omnes: before 1611 Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ

Herr Gott, dich loben wir [Te Deum]: 1636183 Komm heiliger Geist, Herre Gott

Magnificat germanice184: before 1611 Magnificat II. Toni

Vater unser im Himmelreich O lux beata Trinitas

Von allen Menschen abgewandt [Ps.25]: 1624 Ach wir armen Sünder

Was kann uns kommen an für Not [Ps.23] Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein

181 See Kite-Powell, “Visby”, 12.

182 The publishing of this hymnbook can aid researchers in determining which date is actually more likely to be accurate for the start of Jacob Praetorius's tenure at St. Petri. The fact that this hymnbook appeared in print in 1604, and names Jacob Praetorius as one of the contributors among the Hamburg organists who compiled the melody accompaniments — and when considering that such publications take a while to publish — would imply that 1603 is a more probable date for Jacob Praetorius's starting date at St. Petri rather than 1604, as some have proposed.

183 From the comparison in Table 1 above it is evident that oddly enough there are more dates on the surviving copies of Jacob Praetorius's chorale-based organ music than are found on manuscripts of Weckmann's.

184 On the 9th tone, or Tonus Peregrinus.

39

Virtuosity and a significant level of both technical difficulty and contrapuntal complexity also

play a large part in Praetorius's organ music. Arguably, this virtuosic aspect of Praetorius’s organ

music is one of the most salient aspects that Weckmann assimilated into his own works. Notable

examples of techniques that Weckmann also carried over into his own organ works can be seen

in Jacob Praetorius's use of Echo effects, as well as in the use of the pedal as an independent

voice starring in multiple roles beyond a simple articulation of the cantus firmus.185 Chapter 4 of

this dissertation will explore all of these concepts as applied in Weckmann’s Chorale-based

works in more detail.

185 However, the origin of the echo device has been debated by Belotti and Beckmann. Belotti mentions that the echo technique is evident as something inherited from Sweelinck; Beckmann contends that it is not a technique that Praetorius borrowed from Sweelinck. Panetta however clearly argues that "Sweelinck had been a pioneer in the writing of keyboard compositions that exploited echo effects." See Vincent Panetta, “Toccatas Carrying Conflicting Attributions to Sweelinck and Hassler,” Tijdschrift Van de Vereniging Voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis 42 no.2 (1992): 95.

40

Chapter 3 Details about the Organs and Registrations

Instruments and Registrations

3.1 Weckmann’s Instruments

The following section examines the most significant instruments on which Weckmann played,

categorized in each case by location and builder (Dresden, Nykøbing, and Hamburg). The

importance of these pipe organs on Weckmann’s artistic development more broadly cannot be

overstated, and I argue that these instruments served an equally important role in the shaping of

his artistry as did both Weckmann’s teachers (discussed in Chapter 2). Indeed, both the tonal

design and unique diversity of timbral colour in these instruments ultimately influenced

Weckmann’s sound world. Furnishing him with a garland of imaginative registration choices186,

these instruments provided Weckmann a mechanism by which to structure his organ

improvisations and compositions around texts and their respective affects.187

3.1.1 The Dresden Instruments by Gottfried Fritzsche (1578 – 1638)

Gottfried Fritzsche (1578 – 1638), an organ builder originally from Meißen in Germany, worked

initially at the Wolfenbüttel court in close collaboration with Michael Praetorius, at the same

time maintaining close ties to the court at Dresden. Fritzsche eventually made his way north to

Hamburg around the 1630s, where he built several significant instruments, which would

ultimately become important precursors for the later work of the famous builder

186 Musicologist Werner Breig supports this idea, with the following quote from the preface to his 1979 edition of the Chorale-based Works: “[Weckmann’s] ear for the sensuous exploitation of tonal colour…emerges in the colourfulness and diversity of the settings with fewer parts, in which the relationships between the various lines of the music, and also the figuration, would often seem to suggest that Weckmann had the specific tonal qualities of the organ in mind.” Werner Breig, Matthias Weckmann: Choralbearbeitungen für Orgel (Kassel: Bärenreiter BA 6211, 1979), vii.

187 In Chapter 4 of this dissertation, I perform an in-depth analysis of the Chorale-based Works of Weckmann, where this point will become especially evident.

41

Arp Schnitger (1648 – 1719).188 It becomes clear from examining the timelines of events that

align with Weckmann’s organ music, as well as the particular stop lists of the individual

instruments, that Fritzsche’s organs had a significant impact on Weckmann — not only in

Dresden, but also eventually in Hamburg.

As a young choirboy of twelve years old under Schütz’s supervision at the Dresden court,

Weckmann likely had access to at least two instruments built by Gottfried Fritzsche: the first of

these was a large instrument in the Schlosskirche, Dresden, and the second a smaller organ

Positive held at the Electoral court. The organ is notable — not only due to its inclusion in the

important treatise Syntagma Musicum, but also because it is an exceptionally interesting and

versatile musical instrument that would have been a tremendous match for Weckmann’s genius.

Though regrettably the large Schlosskirche organ is no longer in existence today, its fascinating

disposition has thankfully been preserved, as mentioned in the landmark treatise Syntagma

Musicum by Michael Praetorius, as well as in numerous other historical documents.189 To my

knowledge, unfortunately no modern reconstruction of the Schlosskirche Dresden organ

(incidentally Fritzsche's first large organ project of that scale) has yet been completed.190 A

detailed analysis of the Schlosskirche instrument’s stop list (shown in Table 2) points to

potentially valuable lessons that can be learned from a modern reconstruction. Such a

reconstruction could potentially yield information regarding both tonal and technical design, as

well as additional information about performance practice for Weckmann’s organ music.

188 Gustav Fock describes the work of Gottfried Fritzsche under the heading titled “The Bridge to Schnitger” in Chapter 5 of his book, Hamburg’s Role in Northern European Organ Building (Massachusetts: Westfield Center, 1997), 57 – 68. Whereas Fritzsche’s work has been understood by some scholars as an “intermediary role” to the work of Schnitger, as regrettably too often happens to Weckmann’s work (described frequently as an intermediary to that of J.S. Bach for example,) I argue that both Fritzsche’s and Weckmann’s work ought to be seen in their own right as valuable contributions to both organ building and organ repertoire as a whole.

189 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 19 mentions some of the other sources that refer to the disposition of the organ at Schlosskirche Dresden; although the sources are divergent in some respects, there is interestingly a letter preserved written by Gottfried Fritzsche himself dated 3 July 1612, as well as information passed down by 17th -century theorists Johann Mattheson, and F.E. Niedt in the Musikalische Handleitung zur Variation des General-Basses of 1721.

190 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 19 and although Davidsson mentions in a footnote on page 20 that plans for such a reconstruction were in motion, it does not seem as if any progress has been made to a realized instrument.

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Fock mentions that Fritzsche incorporated several novel concepts in organ construction, as well

as creating interesting new dispositions and pipe forms.191 When closely examining the

disposition of the Schlosskirche organ, we see Fock's observation confirmed. The remarkable

Schlosskirche instrument had the following disposition, with the indications from Praetorius’s

Syntagma Musicum abbreviated as SM:

Manual I obern Werck

C – d'''

Short octave with split keys (D#/Eb and G#/Ab)

Posaune 8

Superoctav 2

Oktaff 4

Principal 8

Hölzernde Principal 8

Tremolant*

Quintatena 8

Hölzernde Octav 4

(SM: Quintadena 16)

Coppeloctav 4

Quint above the Octav (wood)

Nassat/Sufflöten 2

Octav Quint above the Superoctav 8

Klein Octav above Superoctav NB should be a Mixture III/IV

Octav super Quintlein (tin)

Zimbel (tin)

Pedal

CDEFGA – d'

Sub Bass 16

Principal 8 (SM: Groß Quintadeena 16)

Hölzern Principal 8

Sub Bass Posaunen 16 (SM: Cornett 2)

(SM: Spitzflöitlein 2)

Vogelgesang

Gedackter Sub Bass 16

191 Fock, Hamburg’s Role, 58.

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Manual II Brust Posietiff

C – d'''

Short octave with split keys D#/Eb and G#/Ab

Regall

Sufflöten 2

Schwegel Pfeifen

Gembshorn 2

Gedackt Quintatön 8

Tremolant*

Manual III Seiten Posietiff 192

Regall 8 (tin)

Zimbell (double)

Octaffquint

Superoctaff

Principaloctaff 4

(Gentle) Flautten 8

Spitz Pfeiffer / Stadtpfeifferflauten

Tremolant*

*Notice that all divisions have a tremulant listed, except for the Pedal.

Table 2: Schlosskirche, Dresden: Organ by Gottfried Fritzsche (Reconstructed)

Young Weckmann arrived in Dresden and had lessons very likely right after extensive repair

work and enhancement of stops had been performed by Fritzsche in 1628.193 Not only was the

Fritzsche Schlosskirche organ a masterpiece of aural and spatial design, which in itself would

have inspired Weckmann by providing multiple combinations of stops using different kinds of

192 Note: the seven stops of the third manual were playable from the pedal as well. Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann,

20. 193 Davidsson confirms that Weckmann arrived at the Dresden court around 1628, at the time when extensive repairs were being performed on the Fritzsche organ, with Heinrich Schütz acting as adviser at the Schlosskirche; Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 19 – 20.

44

harmonics and tonal colours, but Davidsson also refers to the impressive visual aspects of the

organ façade, which included three reed stops in the organ front that were gold-plated.194

3.1.1.1 Innovative Mechanical Design Features

It is clear from Table 2 that Weckmann had at his disposal an instrument rich in timbral colour

and variety. Some stops were made of wood, and many from tin, leading to harmonically varied

sound choices and enhanced harmonic richness. According to Fock, Fritzsche used the special

technique of planing lead pipes instead of hammering them. Fritzsche made use of an alloy

containing a greater amount of tin in pipe material, compared to other builders further north.195 I

wish to draw attention to the fact that Fritzsche used wood in his pipe construction, in order to

achieve new timbres: this would have been the case of stops like the “Quint above the Octav” on

Manual I.196 There are interesting extra-mechanical additions, such as the “Vogelgesang”

(Fritzsche's name for a kind of Zymbel) and Tremulants on all manuals (except the pedal

division). It was not unusual for Fritzsche to invent new stop names, and it is unfortunate that

these novel stops have been lost along with the instruments.197

Further compounding the dearth of existing Fritszche instruments, a vacuum of knowledge

regarding particulars about Fritzsche’s organ building methods obscures our understanding

related to how builders of the previous generation helped pave the way for the now famous Arp

Schnitger to successfully implement his business plan for masterful organ building in principally

North Germany and the Netherlands. Nevertheless, this dissertation aims to raise awareness and

open the discussion around the innovative organ building practices of Gottfried Fritzsche, and to

194 Davidsson, quotes the letter by Fritzsche in Matthias Weckmann, 19. For example, the "ganz verguldene Posaunen in Thon von 8 schuch" describes a completely gold-plated Posaune stop in the 8-foot register of the first manual. On the Brust Posietiff manual there was another gold-plated Regal, and the third manual had a gold-plated Zinken Regall. It is not clear whether Fritzsche decided to gold-plate these reeds because he loved them especially, or because the Emperor had it commissioned this in service of the vanity of the court.



197 Ibid.

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inspire researchers, performers, and organ builders to further investigate this potential goldmine

of information.

3.1.2 The Nykøbing on Falster Instrument, Denmark – Johan Lorentz (ca. 1580 – 1650)?

Information regarding the instruments Weckmann played during his exile in Denmark during the

Thiry Year’s War is scant. It is, however, known that the monastery church or Klosterkirken in

Nykøbing was a parish that maintained a close connection to the Danish court where Weckmann

and his fellow Dresden expatriates were active.198 While it is not entirely clear exactly how this

church was connected to the court, Crown Prince Christian IV and Magdalena Sibylla donated

money towards the commissioning and building of a new organ, assumed to be by the builder

Johan Lorentz (ca. 1580 – 1650), in that church.199 The information Davidsson provides about

this organ includes its location within the church on the north wall, but unfortunately does not

include any elaborate details regarding disposition, other than the speculation that there would

have been space for a two-manual instrument of about 20 stops based upon an 8 foot Principal

registration.200 Just as the information on the organs of the Danish court are limited, information

about how Weckmann spent his time musically there is equally sparse.201

3.1.3 The Organs at Hamburg, St. Jacobi and St. Petri – Gottfried Fritzsche / Hans Christoph Fritzsche

The instruments Weckmann played in Hamburg undoubtably contributed to his musical

education and artistic formation, shaping his musical choices in terms of his improvisations, not

only as a young student studying with Jacob Praetorius II from ca. 1633 – 1666/7, but also

ultimately as professional organist of the St. Jacobi church from 1655 – 1674. As we will see,


199Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 21.

200 Ibid.

201 The lack of information leads to many hypothetical questions, such as “what language did Weckmann and his fellow musicians speak when they were in exile at the Danish court?” For more on this topic, see Bjarke Moe, “Matthias Weckmann på Nykøbing Slot. Historien om en musiker og en musiksamling”, Custos: Tidsskrift for tidlig musik, 12/3, (September 2014: 16 – 18).

46

Weckmann even had a hand personally in contributing to the organ disposition of the instrument

at St. Jacobi.

3.1.3.1 St. Petri

The first instrument Weckmann likely encountered in 1633 (as a student of Jacob Praetorius II)

was the one located in the St. Petri church, where Praetorius was the organist. Notably at that

same time as well, the organ was being repaired and refashioned by none other than organ

builder Gottfried Fritzsche.202 How interesting that Weckmann's first serendipitous meeting with

the organs of Fritzsche happened during a repair commissioned by Schütz back in 1628 (in

Dresden) as Weckmann started his studies there, while the second event occurred a mere five

years later during a similar restoration project by the same builder in Hamburg’s St. Petri.

The St. Petri organ has a long history that goes back as far as 1467, and by the time Jacob

Praetorius II became the organist there, the organ had undergone several restorations and even

rebuilds. During Praetorius’s tenure, the organ possessed three manuals, 42 registers and nine

Bellows, and this disposition is likely what Weckmann also encountered:203

202 Fritzsche also had other ongoing projects besides restoring the organ at St. Petri around Hamburg, such as the organ of the Maria Magdalena church (again unfortunately no longer in existence today), and the organ in St. Nicolai and eventually at St. Jacobi; Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 21.

203The following disposition taken from Michael Praetorius, Syntagma Musicum II, De organographia (Wolfenbüttel, 1619), 169 – 170.

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Das Oberwerck Das Brustpositiff 204 Das Rückpositiv Das Pedal

Principal 12 Fuss Principal 8 Principal 8 Principal 24

Quintadehne 12 Holpipe 8 Quintadena 8 GroßBaß / Untersatz 16

Octava 6 Holfoite 4 Gedact 8 Zimbel

Gedact 8 Nasatt auf die Quinta 3 Hollfloite 4 Mixtur

Holfloite 3 Gemshorn 2 Octava 4 Bassaune 16

Rußpipe Kleinfloit 2 Siffloit Trompette 8

Scharp Zimbel 3-st Scharp Krumbhorn 16

Mixtur Trompette 8 Mixtur Cornet 2

Simbel Regal 8 Baarpfeiffe 8

Zincke 8 Regall 8

Krumbhorn 8

Table 3: Disposition of the Hamburg St. Petri Organ (1619)

Note how the main manual (Das Oberwerck) was based upon a 12-foot Principal chorus, not the

usual 8-foot Principal, and includes the unusual Octava 6; there seem to be oddly no 4-foot stops

in that division. Note also the several kinds of mixtures of different ranks located in that main

manual as well. Unfortunately, the original St. Petri organ was destroyed in the Great Hamburg

fire of May 5th, 1842 before being replaced by a new four manual instrument by Rudolph von

Beckerath (1907 – 1976) in 1955, most recently restored by the Alexander Schuke organ

company from Potsdam.205

204 Interestingly the bottom "Brustpositiff" was coupled to the top "Brustpositiff” and had only a Krumbhorn 8. Praetorius, Syntagma Musicum II, 170. It is not clear what is meant by this bottom “Brustpositiff”.

205 See “Hauptkirche St. Petri” https://www.sankt-petri.de/kirchenmusik-und-kultur/orgeln.html Accessed 9 March 2020; and https://www.orgelstadt-hamburg.de/en/interactive-city-tour/hauptkirche-st-petri/. Accessed 26 November 2020.

48

3.1.3.2 St. Jacobi

The breathtaking four-manual Baroque organ in St. Jacobi (today most often associated with the

master builder Arp Schnitger) is in actuality an organ built (and rebuilt) multiple times by several

different builders throughout its history. Gottfried Fritzsche shaped the instrument in important

ways during the 17th century (during ca. 1635 – 1636), even though Fritzsche's name is not

mentioned in the existing account books of St. Jacobi.206 There is an interesting quote regarding

the organ's beauty, in all likelihood further inspired by the wonderful music Weckmann was

making there, which was penned by the pastor of St. Jacobi, Johann Balthasar Schupp, in 1659:

"In this church there is an organ so perfect, that aside from the organs in Lübeck and Ulme,

you will perhaps find no other such instrument in all of Germany."207

As mentioned, from 1635 – 1636 Fritzsche carried out extensive and significant work208 that

formed a core part of the St. Jacobi organ: the manual compass was consistently enlarged to four

octaves, the main manual was enhanced with a luxurious (and as we will see, very important for

Weckmann’s organ music) Trumpet 16 stop; on the Rückpositiv, a whole set of extra split keys

per octave were added (three per octave, as opposed to only a few in the lowest octave).209

Furthermore, an entire fourth manual was added, called "die Brust".210 Significant additional

stops were added to the notably massive pedal division, including some impressive reeds e.g. the

Großen Baßunen (an unusual 24-foot stop!), and lastly the bellows were also re-leathered.211

Some of the unique stops from Fritzsche's time that are miraculously still in existence today

206 Gustav Fock, Arp Schnitger und seine Schule, ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Orgelbaues im Nord- und Ostseeküstengebiet (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1974), 55.

207 English translation by Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 23.

208 The total cost of this rebuild was rather enormous at 6325 Marks, Fock, Arp Schnitger, 56.


210 St. Jacobi was not the only organ with four manuals in Hamburg at the time. According to Fock, St. Catharinen and St. Petri also had 4 manuals, Arp Schnitger, 50.

211 Fock, Arp Schnitger, 55.

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include a Querpfeiff 2' on the Rückpositiv: a gentle, overblowing open flute register of double

the pipe length, which approximates the sound of a modern piccolo.212

After this work done by Fritzsche — some thirty years later when Weckmann returned to

Hamburg in 1655 as a professional musician, and assumed his new role as the organist at St.

Jacobi — Davidsson theorizes that the instrument was by then likely "in dire need of an

overhaul".213 In lieu of the instrument's less than satisfactory condition (and since Gottfried

Fritzsche had passed away by then), Weckmann instead commissioned the repair-work to be

done by Fritzsche's son, Hans Christoph, during 1656.214 Details regarding the repair are given in

the church account books of Weckmann, as follows:

- The pedal division required attention; there was the possible addition of extra stops, such

as the Gedackt 8' and Trumpet 4' 215

- The total amount for the repair was 1656 LM216, which is much more compared to a

regular tuning would have cost for the day at that time (50 – 80 LM). 217

212 Go to https://www.orgelstadt-hamburg.de/play-arp-en/ and click on Querpfeiff 2': the sample sound is quite good. Note, however, that the stop has been reconstructed during the Jürgen Ahrend restoration of 1993, and so it cannot be considered entirely original. Accessed link 5 January 2021.

213 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 21. Davidsson justifies the idea through his consideration of Johann Kortkamp's historical account of Weckmann's organ audition of 1655, where it mentions the lack of availability of the 24' Principal (a pedal stop which was incidentally not built by G. Fritzsche, but by a previous builder, more than a century earlier in 1512-16) in the Praetorian registration — the stop was indeed still part of the organ case, according to archival records, but was probably out of order at that time.

214 Ibid. There seems to be a discrepancy with dates here, however. Was the year of restoration indeed 1655, or 1656?

215 Davidsson notes that Johann Kortkamp mentions these stops, but both stops are absent from Praetorius's disposition, as well as from "reports from 1635-6". It is however unclear which "reports" Davidsson is referring to here.


217 LM = Lübsche Mark, according to Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 21.

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Most interestingly, Weckmann is presumed to have taken an active part in the organ maintenance

process during this time. Weckmann gave Hans Christoph Fritzsche218 access to his home (the

builder could stay there for the duration of the repair process), and also helped to voice and tune

the organ – an endeavour that took eight days for an instrument of that size!219 Regarding tuning

the organ, Weckmann’s student, Johann Kortkamp provides yet another revealing anecdote:

“… I was with Weckmann six years to maintain the organ, so that through tuning he would

not become so tired that he did not have a strong spirit to perform. This was very useful to

me: when he played, I stood behind him and drew the registers which he requested…”220

The reconstructed hypothetical disposition of the 1657 Jacobi-organ is given by Davidsson on

the next page.221 In Table 4 below, I have indicated the 1635 additions made by Gottfried

Fritzsche in boldface type, to emphasize the significance of his unique contributions:

Table 4: Disposition of St. Jacobi Organ, with Gottfried Fritzsche's Contribution Bolded

Manual II OW

CDEFG – c '''

Manual I RP222

CDE – c'''223

Manual III ObB

CDEFGA- c'''

Manual IV BW

CDEFGA – c'''

Pedal224

CDE – d'

218 Not all the organ builders who worked on the St. Jacobi organ had stellar reputations, however. Although Fritzsche's son Hans Christoph had a hand in repairing the St. Jacobi organ at Weckmann's request, he ultimately ran into trouble later on in life, and was all but forcibly removed from the premises of the St. Petri church in the 1670s for a "terrible" job that he performed there, resulting in damages for the congregation of more than 800 M. Fock, Arp Schnitger, 45.


220 As translated into English by Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 49.

221 Davidsson does not explain what the stops in brackets mean in his diagram, but after some study it is assumed that he is saying these were the additions by Fritzsche's son, Hans Christoph in 1655. Compare this table to the disposition given in Fock, Hamburg’s Role, which must stem from an earlier time, before Fritzsche’s renovation of 1635.

222 The disposition of the St. Jacobi Rückpositiv in Hoyer's time, which is given in Fock, Arp Schnitger, 52 is very different to this one by Davidsson, and based on a 6-foot register, so there must have been quite a bit of construction done since 1619.

223 With 3 split keys per octave: ds, gs, bs, ds', gs', bs', ds'' (short, broken octave).

224 Fock mentions something curious: a special chest attached to the pedal towers in 1622 contained the semitones F#, G# and c# - could these have pertained to the pedal? See Fock, Arp Schnitger, 55.

51

Manual II OW Manual I RP Manual III ObB Manual IV BW Pedal

Principal 16 Principal 8 Principal 8 Principal 8225 Principal 24

Octave 8 Octave 4 Octave 4 Octave 4 Mixture 12

Quinden 16 Gedackt 8 Quinden 8 Spitzfloit [d] 3 Quinden 16

Gedackt 8 Quintedine 8 Holpipe 8 Spitzquinte [b] 3 Principal 16

Holfloite 4 Querpfeiffe [2?] Apenfloite 4 Scharff Groffbaß 16

Querpipe 8 Holfloite 4 Floite 4 Dulcian 16 Gemshornbaß

Russpipe Blockfloite 4 Nasatt 3 Geigen Regal 4 Spitzquinte

Scharp Gemshorn 2 Gemshorn 2 [Burfloite 1?]

Mixtur Süflidt [1½] Walfloite 2 Simbel

[Simbel 2 st.] Mixtur Ruhs Pfeiffe Mixtur

Trummet 16 Scharp kl. Simbel 3st. [Octave 8]

kl. Simbel Scharff [Gedackt 8]

Baarpfeiffe Trommette 8 Spillpipe 4

groth Regal 8 Krumhorn 8 Octave 4

Krumbhorn 8 Zincke [disc] 8* Bahr Pipe 6

Schalmeyen 4 *only f – a'' Bassaune 16

SehsQuealtra Dulcian 16

Krumbhorn 16

Trommete 8

Großen

Baßunen 24

Cornett 2

[Trommete 4]

225 This principal is anomalously made of wood, Fock, Arp Schnitger, 56.

52

Davidsson (1991) further suggests that the presence of split-keys on the Rückpositiv would

indicate a mean-tone temperament, and especially that the presence of the A-sharp/B-flat was an

"unusual" one.226 It is nonetheless clear from the disposition above that the organ was already

impressive, years before Arp Schnitger had the opportunity to perform work on it.227 The organ

at St. Jacobi was no doubt a huge influence on Weckmann’s improvisatory style, inspiring the

many interesting registrations that I will discuss in section 2 of this chapter.

3.1.4 Smaller Organs: Portable Organs, Positives and Regals

Aside from the large instruments that Weckmann played in Denmark, Dresden, and Hamburg, he

also had a number of smaller instruments at his disposal, mostly for use in teaching, personal

practice, and potentially also for continuo playing.

In Dresden, Weckmann had access to at least a single-manual positive organ (likely built by

Gottfried Fritzsche) for the Electoral Court of Saxony in 1627. Most interestingly, this

instrument, although sadly unplayable, still exists and currently resides in the collection of the

Victoria & Albert Museum in London, UK.228 Curiously, its three existing ranks are made of

paper. Davidsson mentions a 2' register, as well as 1' and 4' stopped pipes.229 One must wonder

why there is no 8-foot stop included, or whether it was ever fitted with one. It is doubtful that

this positive organ was the only one that existed at court during Weckmann's time, since a

quotation from a contract in Schütz's handwriting mentions that choirboy vocal training took

226 It is unclear in the text whether Davidsson means here that the inclusion of A#/Bb split was unusual, or whether the inclusion of split-keys over the course of several octaves was unusual.

227 Tracing the history of the work done on the St. Jacobi organ is not so easy, but it seems the very first builders were of Dutch descent before the German builders began work on the instrument. See Fock, Arp Schnitger, 53. From Fock's perspective, it seems that he was relatively unimpressed with the work of some of the prior builders before Arp Schnitger arrived on the scene – calling several rebuilding and adjustment basically ending up as "patchwork"; Fock, Arp Schnitger, 57.


229 Ibid.

53

place using a Regal230 or Positive231, thus implying the court must have had at least a Regal as

well. Unfortunately, no further information about these instruments currently exists.

In Denmark Weckmann also had access to the unique portable organ with the disposition shown

below, notably containing a 16’ Regal stop commissioned in 1642 by the Crown Prince Christian

IV from organ builder Johan Lorentz of Copenhagen:

Table 5: Disposition of Portable Organ in Denmark

Principal 4 foot (made of tin, front) Scherf of three pipes

A deep Flute of 8 foot Regal 16 foot

Gedackt 4 foot Short octave: F# and G#

Superoktave 2 foot

Notably, this portable organ disposition is quite different from the small chest organs used in

early music ensembles today, which are often limited to 8', 4', and 2' flute ranks made of wood,

and sound very soft in context of the ensemble. The presence of the Regal 16 above is an

especially noteworthy and luxurious addition. Davidsson proposes that this instrument would

have been perfect to perform the Toccatas and Canzonas of Weckmann that are found in the

manuscript KN 147, as well as being a great continuo instrument.232

Lastly, in Hamburg there were several organ positives and Regals, though no surviving

documents indicate their exact specifications. Davidsson asserts that these instruments were

apparently in use long before Weckmann's appointment in 1655; for example, a new positive had

been acquired for use with the choir in 1643, and a second positive had also been purchased by

1652.233

230 A Regal is small organ with bellows made up of only special reed stops and has a very characteristic sound.


232 Ibid.


54

3.1.5 Links to Richborn

There are indications that Weckmann had links with the Hamburg organ builder Joachim

Richborn (d. 1684), who was likely an apprentice of the eminent builder Friederich Stellwagen

(1603 – 1660).234 Specifically, Weckmann inspected some of the nearby organ restorations

completed by Richborn, and more significantly, served as adviser during the 1667 – 1668

Altenbruch restoration Richborn carried out. Notably, Richborn also repaired the organ in St.

Marien, Lübeck for Dietrich Buxtehude in 1673.235 Four years before Weckmann's own death,

he inspected another Richborn organ in the St. Michaelis church in Hamburg.236

3.2 Registrational Practices: The Sound World of Weckmann

It is fortunate and significant that several important registrational indications have been passed

down in the tablatures containing Chorale-based organ works by Weckmann. In the sections

below, I will discuss each of these indications in more detail. Although it is difficult in many

cases to completely recreate these registrations on most contemporary organs today, important

principles regarding tonal design can be discerned from this information, which may serve to

strongly guide performance practice decisions and thinking creatively about Weckmann’s

improvisatory organ music, no matter the instrument on which they are performed.

3.2.1 Full Organ Registrations

At the St. Jacobi organ audition of 1655, we know from Johann Kortkamp’s written account that

Weckmann used a full organ (plenum) registration twice: first, when he improvised the opening

praeludium as required by the jury, and secondly during the final audition requirement, which

was an improvised fugue. There are some specific registration indications referring to full organ

registrations that have been written down in the Chorale-based works contained in the

Wedemann copy of the Lüneburg Ratsbücherei, KN 209 (specifically for verses found in both

the largest chorale cycles by Weckmann namely Es ist das Heil uns kommen her and O lux

234 Stellwagen (was an active organ builder in Northern Germany, who also apprenticed with Gottfried Fritzsche.



55

beata Trinitas) as well as in the Kortkamp copy of the Magnificat II. Toni in KN 207. The first

and last verses of each of these large chorale cycles provide the following instructions at the start

of the verse: "Im vollen Werck". Full organ registration is typically associated with the terms

"Im vollen Werck", but the exact make-up of the plenum sound should be considered in relative

terms, and not necessarily presumed as “8-4-2-Mixture”.237 North German plena often have

reed-based full organ registrations, sometimes even leaving out the Mixtures or leaving out

Principal stops in the pedal, and basing the pedal selection fully on the reeds, of which there

were an abundant supply, of course, on an instrument such as St. Jacobi. A beautiful and

extremely convincing demonstration of this concept can be heard on Wolfgang Zerer’s recording

of the complete Organ Music of Matthias Weckmann on Naxos.238

3.2.2 Colourful Solo Registrations

I have found during the course of this study that one of the trademarks of Weckmann's organ

music is the invitation his music infers towards employing a range of colourful registrations,

specifically in varying the degree of richness in sound by means of unique timbres. A classic

example of this can also be found described in the organ audition of 1655 at St. Jacobi, which

included the task of improvisation on a given hymn, "An wasserflüssen Babylon". For this event,

according to Kortkamp's account239, Weckmann used the following registration in an "auff 2

Clavier" setting: meaning, he performs the left hand and right hand “on two different manuals”.

Weckmann is said to have adapted this registrational practice from his teacher,

Jacob Praetorius II, which I will display in Table 6 on the next page:

237 Davidsson quotes Mattheson's description of a North-German plenum, but we must be mindful that sometimes Mattheson’s descriptions need to be taken less literally, Matthias Weckmann, 53.

238 Wolfgang Zerer: Matthias Weckmann: Organ Works Vol. 1 and 2, Naxos 8.553849 and 8.553850.

239 See Krüger, “Johann Kortkamps Organistenchronik”, 188 – 213.

56

Oberwerck [manual II] Trommete 8, Zinke 8, Nassat 3, Gemshorn 2, Hohlfleute 4

Rückpositiv [manual I]

*for the soft/ quiet accompaniment voices

Prinzipal 8, Octave 4

Pedal: Posaune 16, [Prinzipal-Bass 24], Trommete 8, Trommete 4 240, Cornet 2

Table 6: The Praetorian Registration

If the hymn was being improvised "auff 2 Clavir", then the solo ornamented cantus firmus was

probably on the Oberwerck and the accompaniment on the Rückpositiv. Regarding the strong

pedal registration indicated in the table above, we can only speculate as to how Weckmann used

that registration for voices in the Pedal. A likely scenario is perhaps that the Cantus Firmus was

also in the pedal, in a way similar to the sixth verse of Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, seeing

as the Cornet 2’ was drawn. We are not told by Kortkamp how many verses Weckmann played

for this hymn that day, but it is conceivable that a single verse would have sufficed for the

purposes of this audition.

Besides the account from the organ audition by Kortkamp, other colourful registrations are

indicated in the manuscripts for some of the verses of the big chorale cycles contained in the

tablatures of the Lüneburg Ratsbücherei, KN 209: verses 3 and 6 of Es ist das Heil uns

kommen her, and verse 3 of O lux Beata Trinitas. In Table 7, I have placed the appropriate

registration indication as a direct transcription next to the verse in question for comparison:241

240 Michael Praetorius's 1619 disposition in Syntagma Musicum for the St. Petri organ, where Jacob Praetorius was the organist, shows no Trommete 4. Could this stop have been added by Gottfried Fritzsche in 1633?

241 See Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 52.

57

Es ist das Heil, uns

kommen her

Tertius versus (verse 3)

RugP: Principal 8 fuhs

Pedahl: Trompet 8, Gedact 8 oder Trompet 8 und Trompet 4

"In der orgel" Trompet 16 fus

Auff 2 Clavier

Sextus versus

(verse 6)

Oberst Positif vol

Schwache stimmen in der lincken Hand

Pedal mit dem Cornet-Bass

Uff 2 Clavir

O lux Beata Trinitas

Tertius versus

(verse 3)

Den Discant und Alt in einer Schwachen Stime von 8 fuhs

Den Choral im pedal etwan Trompet 8 fuhs, den Bas in der linken hand Trompet 16. fuhs

Table 7: Registration Indications in KN 209

It is interesting to note from Table 7 above that two different options are given in verse 3 of

Es ist das Heil uns kommen her. In this context, one might have selected either the Trompet 8

and Gedact 8 in the pedal, or two reeds, Trompet 8 and 4. The indication "In der orgel Trompet

16" refers to the Trumpet 16 on the main manual (Oberwerck at St. Jacobi, or more generally,

the Hauptwerck).

Verse 3 of O lux Beata Trinitas also interestingly contains a registration indication for every

individual voice part of the SATB setting. Here one is advised to draw a soft 8-foot stop for the

Alto and Discant, then for the chorale (Tenor) to draw the Trumpet 8, and finally for the Bass to

perform with the left hand, using the Trumpet 16.

It can be challenging to precisely recreate these very particular registrations on modern organs,

especially those which are not furnished with elaborate divisions of reeds stops. Moreover, it is

typically rare for most organs to have the luxury of a North-German-voiced Trumpet 16 on the

main manual. In such contemporary cases, an organist will be required to exercise personal

58

artistic judgement to try to recreate the tonal colour Weckmann appears to have had in mind for

these pieces. The wonderful aspect of Weckmann’s improvisatory nature of this organ music,

however, invites the performer to inventively explore the different sounds of which an

instrument is capable, with a view towards maximizing their impact in alignment with both the

text and affect of a given chorale or composition. In the next Chapter, I will perform a detailed

analytical study of Weckmann’s organ works, in which several of these registrational practices

can be viewed in context.

59

Chapter 4 Analysis

PURPOSE

This chapter presents a broad-scale analysis of the following four Free Works and eight Chorale-

based Works of Weckmann:

FREE WORKS CHORALE-BASED WORKS

Toccata ex D Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (I)

Praeambulum primi toni a.5 Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g’mein

Fantasia ex D Komm, heiliger Geist, Herre Gott

Fuga ex. D ped primi Toni Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet

Magnificat II. Toni

O lux beata, Trinitas

Es ist das Heil uns kommen her

Ach wir armen Sünder

Table 8: List of Weckmann Organ Works Analyzed

The goal of this chapter is to ascertain identifiable aspects of Weckmann’s personal

compositional style for the organ with a view towards creating a new performer’s edition.

Although the idea of ascribing "personal style" to composers within the context of the

17th century necessitates complex and nuanced discussion (comprehensively addressed by

Rose (2019)), this chapter will further advance this work by pinpointing several key discernable

aspects of Weckmann's style and harmonic language.242 Both of these aspects in Weckmann’s

242 Stephen Rose, Musical Authorship from Schütz to Bach (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019).

60

music are of critical utility in resolving questions of authorship in some of Weckmann's

keyboard works, as well as advancing our understanding of stylistic trends within 17th-century

keyboard music.

The current chapter is structured in three large parts. Part 1 addresses Structural Organization

and Thematic Treatment in the Free Works (Section 4.1.1) and the Chorale-based Works

(Section 4.1.2). Part 2 focuses on different aspects of Cadences. Part 3 discusses Harmony in two

different ways. The first shows the extent to which Roman Numeral Analysis aids in the

understanding of tonal structure in Weckmann's music. The second, which comprises the major

experiment for this dissertation (further divided into subheadings that each correspond to the

experimental data, results, and conclusions) examines chord-to-chord progressions outside the

context of a particular key, based on the methodology of modified Transformational Theory.243

I end the chapter with a discussion of some key insights gleaned from my analysis and by

offering some recommendations for future research.

Analysis

4.1 Part 1: Structural Organization and Thematic Treatment

4.1.1 Free Works

I begin the present study of structural organization / form244 in the Free Works first with a big-

picture analytical overview, followed by a more detailed examination of Weckmann's use of

textures, meter changes and other distinctive features such as range and free stylus fantasticus.

243 Transformational Theory involves the study of chord progressions through root motion and chord type; see the extensive treatment by Scott Murphy, “Transformational Theory and the Analysis of Film Music,” in Oxford Handbook of Film Music Studies, ed. D. Neumeyer (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013). Other landmark theoretical studies in the field also include those by Julian Hook, “Uniform Triadic Transformations,” Journal of Music Theory, 46 (2002): 57–126; and Richard Cohn, “Neo-Riemannian Operations, Parsimonious Trichords, and Their "Tonnetz" Representations,” Journal of Music Theory, 41 no. 1 (1997): 1 – 66.

244 Musical form here broadly means the musical structure of the piece, with emphasis on the compositional procedures, and more specifically, musical processes followed to be able to distinguish one genre from another.

61

Each of the Free Works can be broadly divided into an overall three-part structure, based upon

their overall texture and tempo-proportion245 (see Table 9).

Table 9: Structural Organization in the Free Works

PIECE

Toccata ex D

Measure #

Texture

Tempo /

tactus

Ambitus

Part I mm. 1 – 20 Homophonic; Free stylus phantasticus (SF)

C * Lowest note =C2

Highest note =B6 Part II mm. 20 – 42 Homophonic; regular C

Part III mm. 43 – 56 Homophonic; SF C *

Comments: No fugal section present. Manuals only piece and the only completely homophonic piece in the set of the studied Free Works.

* C [common time] is indicated, but SF implies that "the beat goes on leave"246

Praeambulum

primi Toni a.5.

Measure # Texture Tempo / tactus Ambitus

Part I mm. 1 – 24 Free, virtuoso SF Alla breve* Lowest note =C#2

Highest note = A6 Part II mm. 24 - 53 Fugal: 5-voice Regular alla

breve

Part III mm. 54 – 76 Fugal (5v) with SF ending mm. 74 – 76

[3/2]

Comments: * Although [ ] is indicated, SF implies a degree of tempus flexibility. Pedals indicated.

245 Tempo proportions refer in this instance to meter changes specifically in the sense that there is a defined mathematical proportion between the first meter sign and the new meter sign. For a detailed study regarding this topic see Julia Dokter, “Codified Tempo Changes in Early German Baroque Organ Music: Michael Praetorius and Matthias Weckmann,” (DMus diss., McGill University, 2014).

246 See Johann Matthesson, Der volkomme Capellmeister, 1739 in which he specifically the comments on the SF. One interpretation of Mattheson's statement is that the performer has leeway to use tempo flexibility as an expressive device on a micro-rhythmic level.

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Fantasia ex. D. Measure # Texture Tempo / tactus Ambitus

Part I mm. 1 – 43 Fugal: 5-voice

Free SF mm. 39 – 43.

[C] Lowest note=C2

Highest note = C6 Part II mm. 44 – 102 Fugal: 5v then free SF from mm.97 – 102

3/4

Part III mm. 103 – 111 SF Alla breve

Comments: Pedals are indicated on the manuscript.

This can also be viewed as essentially a two-part piece, with mm. 103 – 111 being merely an extended flourish that decorates the ending of Part II.

Fuga ex D. ped

primi Toni

Measure # Texture Tempo / tactus Ambitus

Part I mm. 1 – 47 Fugal: 4-voice [C] Lowest note = D2

Highest note = Bb6

Part II mm. 48 – 119 Fugal: 4v 3/2

Part III mm. 120 – 151 Fugal (4v) then free SF mm. 146 – 151

Alla breve

Comments: Pedals required.

This is the longest fugue of all the Free Works studied in this chapter.

4.1.1.1 Textures

As shown in Table 9, two main categories of alternating textures pervade the Free Works

namely 1) fugal writing and 2) homophonic free stylus fantasticus (SF). The textures typically

range from three to six voices. For Weckmann's fugal sections, the minimum number of voices is

four, although five-voice textures are more abundant, and evidence sophisticated contrapuntal

writing. The transformation into free SF often happens in a virtuosic and extravagant fashion at

the end of pieces. As we will see in greater detail later in this chapter, occasionally works begin

with free SF and then transition into fugal texture.

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4.1.1.2 Range / Ambitus, Mode and Temperament

Weckmann's Free Works cover large ranges of the instrument, spanning almost the entire

compass of the keyboard / pedalboard available to the performer at the time.247 Range (ambitus)

and temperament are important considerations for performers playing Weckmann's organ music,

especially when determining which instruments are more suitable for particular pieces.248 As

Table 9 shows, the lowest note is often C2 and the highest note can go as far as C6. Oftentimes

ambitus in Weckmann's music raises interesting performance and musicological questions. For

example, a compelling question is presented by the presence of a low C#2 as the lower end of the

ambitus limit in the Praeambulum primi Toni a.5 — since according to documentation, no C#2

was actually available on the St. Jacobi Hamburg organ which Weckmann played.249

4.1.1.3 Meter and Tempo Proportion

Changes in meter, tempo proportion and texture demarcate larger formal subsections in the

Weckmann Free Works. For example, as Table 9 shows, Part 1 of Fantasia ex D begins with a

strict fugue in common time [C] that transitions to Part 2, another fugue (with the same theme)

but now in 3/4 time, and ends in Part 3 with a change of texture and meter (free stylus fantasticus

in "alla breve" meter). All the Free Works contain these tempo proportion, meter, and texture

changes, and therefore can be considered uniquely identifying features of Weckmann's music. At

an additional level of structural / formal design, Weckmann implements the tempo proportion

247 The incorporation of a wide and dynamic range in Weckmann's writing for the organ further points to his innovative compositional process, as he was starting to explore pushing the limits of the instruments – something both Dieterich Buxtehude and Johann Sebastian Bach took to further extremes in the later Baroque.

248 Range was also in general an important consideration for composers in the 16th and 17th-centuries, because vocalists’ ranges were considered in conjunction with the limits of the modes before composing a piece of music. Keyboard pieces initially sought to imitate these vocal ranges, which then expanded beyond these initial limits as composers kept pushing these boundaries over the course of history. The ambitus also helps in determining the mode of a 17th-century composition. Consider also that modality is primarily melodically structured, and therefore modality becomes a structural and melodic entity as Menke explains; see Johannes Menke, Kontrapunkt II: Die Musik des Barock (Laaber: Laaber, 2017), 22.

249 A similar issue is encountered in J.S. Bach's Piece d'Orgue BWV 572 where a low B that does not exist on the instrument was nevertheless written in the score by Bach; see the Gravement section. Another example of score reality versus practical reality is the presence of a stark B-major chord that happens more than once in Weckmann's Komm, heiliger Geist, Herre Gott in a G tonality context which again raises questions about the piece's performance within a pure ¼ comma mean tone temperament environment.

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alterations to bring about augmentation or diminution of the fugue subject, thereby enhancing

overall formal unity.250

4.1.1.4 Fugal Sections in the Free Works

In this section, I examine Weckmann's fugal writing with a view towards identifying several of

his key and recurring compositional techniques. My analysis has revealed that there are seven (7)

fugal subsections in Weckmann’s pedaliter organ works.251 I will first begin by highlighting

some of the most salient features of a typical Weckmann fugue.

4.1.1.4.1 Stretto

Stretto can be considered an important procedural feature in Weckmann's fugues. Figure 3 on the

next page shows the score of the complete first fugue taken from the Praeambulum primi Toni

a.5252, mm. 24 – 53. Not all subject / answer deployments are shown with solid / dotted lines for

purposes of clarity. The stretti are strikingly consistent, typically involving several subject /

answer overlays that happen in quick succession.253 The entry of different subjects and answers

are designated as follows: a solid black line indicates the fugue subject, a dashed line indicates

the answer, and a wavy line indicates a subject transposition to a different scale degree.

250 See the "unity within variety" concept explained later in this chapter.

251 With regards to the Toccata ex D, the only manualiter free work that is conceived entirely in Italian SF fashion, it contains no fugal sections and will therefore not be discussed in this section. This toccata strongly resembles models by Weckmann's contemporary Johann J. Froberger.

252 The "a.5" in the title of the piece is a Latin abbreviation that means "in 5 voices".

253 By comparison with some of the other fugues, stretto events occur only twice in all of the 151 measures of music in the Fuga ex D ped. primi Toni; in the Fantasia ex D there are six stretto events that happen in 102 measures.

65

Figure 3: Complete Fugal Section with Stretto from Praeambulum primi Toni a.5

Both the fugal sections in the Praeambulum primi Toni a.5 are rigorously stretto-based, with

the subject entering in multiple voices at different melodic intervals. The stretto occurrences also

66

happen within a short period of time, resulting in high subject density.254 In fact, there is hardly a

place in the piece where some form of the subject/answer statement is not present. Additionally,

almost no episode or sequential material occurs in between the subject statements. The example

below (Figure 4) shows the second fugue with a striking wave-like effect created by numerous

layered subject entries. These appear in a grand, majestic triple proportion tempo, mm. 54 – 65.

The subject is indicated with a solid line, while the answer is shown with dotted lines:

Figure 4: Praeambulum primi Toni a.5, Second Fugue with a "Wave of Subjects" in

Stretto

The formal diagram in Figure 5 (on the next page) demonstrates in an alternative way the first

fugal section of Praeambulum primi Toni a.5, mm. 24 – 53. The "constant stretto" effect can

be seen clearly and there is indication of intensification happening, especially towards the end.

The voice types are provided in the left-most vertical column, where S = soprano, A = alto,

T1 = tenor 1, T2 = tenor 2, and B = bass. The measure numbers are displayed on a timeline

horizontally across from m. 24 to m. 53 of the piece. Stretto events are shown with the blue

254 Subject density relates to the time elapsed from hearing one subject in one voice to hearing another entry in another voice part. If the subject density is high, subjects are heard within quick succession of one another, or they overlap as in the case of stretto. If the subject density is low, a subject statement is followed by several episodes or other melodic/rhythmic material unrelated to the subject itself.

67

horizontal line overlapping in voice-parts. SA denotes the subject starting on the note A, whereas

SD denotes the original subject on D, and the small numbers in brackets refer to quotations of

particular beats from the original subject.255 In the bottom row of Figure 5, the main tonal areas

and cadences are shown with Roman Numerals:

Figure 5: Formal Diagram Showing Stretto Layers in the First Fugal Section in

Weckmann's Praeambulum primi Toni a.5

4.1.1.5 Episode and Sequence Events

Other Weckmann Free Works have fewer stretti, employing a greater number of episodes and

sequential events instead. The Fuga ex D ped. primi Toni and the Fantasia ex D are examples

of this kind. Incidentally, within both these pieces, the sequential events observed are based on

the circle-of-fifths sequence (a sequence that gains significant traction and popularity in

compositions of the later Baroque and beyond).

In order to gain a better understanding of the detailed nuances of this fugal model, I present

another formal diagram, this time for the Fantasia ex D, incorporating both fugues (depicted in

Figure 6). The detailed — as well as overall — fugal processes can be observed. As can be seen

in the legend, the piece is charted out starting at m. 1 and ending at m. 96. Similarly to the

previous form chart, the abbreviation SA indicates the subject starting on the note A, whereas S

with a different subtext letter indicates the subject starting on that particular note name (for

255 Generally, the fugue subjects are quoted in their entirety. When quoted partially or in a fragmented way, the duration of the quotation is indicated in square brackets with beat numbers included, e.g. like in Figure 5: measures 34, 38, and so forth.

68

example SE shows the subject starting on the note E). Episodes are shown within columns

outlined with broken/dashed lines. Horizontal lines show the presence and duration of stretto

events. The wavy black lines indicate subject entries that begin strictly, but become freely

altered, or instead morph into sequences. Note, as well, the independent rhythmic motive that is

shown in the second fugue under EP = episode. SF indicates free stylus fantasticus. As before,

cadences and main tonal areas are shown using Roman Numerals in bold at the bottom:

Figure 6: Fugal Process in Fantasia ex D

4.1.1.6 Other Fugal Design Features

Speaking broadly, the way in which Weckmann allows his fugue subjects to unfold is a

noteworthy feature across all his free pieces. Aside from the intuitively crafted thematic entries,

the first fugue from Praeambulum primi Toni a.5 displays an additional interesting feature,

whereby the fugue subject emerges as a continuation out of the final chord of the preceding

69

stylus fantasticus section. I designate this feature "fugue emergence"256; since the fugue subject

is created from the last chord of the previous section in m. 24, and emerges out of the

disappearing final chord (as opposed to the usual situation, where a lone single voice starts off

from silence —see Figure 7):

Figure 7: Fugue Emergence in m. 24 of Praeambulum primi Toni a.5

The implication is that the fugue starts immediately after the conclusion of the SF section in

m. 23 without a pause, and as such may actually make a compelling case for potentially arguing

against the idea of dividing baroque free works up into separate formal sections.257

4.1.1.7 Thematic Elements in the Fugues

Throughout the following section, please refer to Table 10 on the next page for a complete

Catalogue of Fugue Subjects. All of the Pedaliter fugal themes are relatively short musical units,

typically only about two measures in length at maximum.258

256 Fugue emergence as a compositional / improvisational device later influenced — and was famously copied by — North German composer Vincent Lübeck (c. 1654 – February 1740), in his d minor Praeludium for organ.

257 Belotti has, in fact, argued against dividing up the free works of Buxtehude into formal sections for several reasons; see Michael Belotti, "Die freien Orgelwerke Dieterich Buxtehudes: Überlieferungsgeschichtliche und stilkritische Studien," Europäische Hochschulschriften, Reihe XXXVI: Musikwissenschaft, vol.136, (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1995). For the purposes of this chapter, though, the formal divisions are useful with the specific aim of drawing distinct comparisons, but care must be taken not to lose sight of the big picture.

258 The brevity of the fugue subjects supports the idea that they could have been improvised by Weckmann and then potentially written down by another scribe. The meticulousness of the fugal design, however, argues against improvisation, unless Weckmann possessed impeccable mental planning foresight (which is not entirely implausible!).

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Table 10: Thematic Catalogue of Weckmann Fugue Subjects

Praeambulum primi Toni a 5.

Part I Part II Part III

Free SF

Short fugal subject with real answer Subject in augmentation

Fantasia Ex. D.

Part I

Part II

Short fugal subject of 2 measures with tonal answer Subject in augmentation

Fuga ex D. ped primi Toni

Part I

Short fugal subject of 2.5 measures

Part II

Subject in augmentation and in triple proportion

Part III

Subject in diminution

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Weckmann's fugue subjects are generally short, melodically pleasing, and easy to sing, as well as

rhythmically malleable.259 The rhythmic malleability also allows for different musical

"characters" to be explored within a contrapuntal setting, imparting stronger emotional properties

to a genre which is sometimes associated with mere strict writing and dry intellectualism.260

Weckmann allows each voice part to present the fugal theme in full at key points during the

course of the piece, and by using this technique, he imparts an additional dimension of

meticulous balance to his works that is reminiscent of the influential contrapuntal teachings that

are found in the 1565 treatise by Tomás de Santa María.261

When examining all Weckmann's other keyboard pieces in the fugal genre, no consistent

countersubjects (as are typical in the organ music of Johann Sebastian Bach at a later time, for

example) are found. However, whenever there is a subject-answer pairing (also known as dux /

comes pairing), the answer is usually a tonal one, consistent with the earlier Italian models of

canzona and ricercar. Figures 8 and 9 both depict examples of the typically consistent tonal

answer strategy in the Weckmann fugues:

Figure 8: Subject with Tonal Answer in the First Fugue of Fantasia ex D

259 Rhythmic malleability is the property of creating augmentation or diminution out of the rhythmic values in a melody, without changing its fundamental overall melodic design.

260 Compare, for example, the diametrically-opposed views regarding fugues by 17th-century theorist Athanasius Kircher and 18th-century theorist Johann Mattheson, wherein Kircher praised fugues as the highest form of musical achievement, while Mattheson disparaged them as "dull", and viewed them as being the opposite of music's aim. See Hanné Becker, “Stylus Phantasticus: Beyond Definition”, unpublished paper, 2017.

261 The significance of Weckmann honoring this polyphonic technique is supported in the treatise The Art of Playing Fantasia by Tomás de Santa María, where one of the crucial elements to be observed in good polyphonic music is the equal distribution of the melodic subject amongst all voices. This technique enhances the achievement of a sense of unity and balance in a fugal piece overall, because the texture and subject deployments are not done so at random, nor achieved by incorporating random melodic material that does not seem to "fit" with the rest of the piece.

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Figure 9: Tonal Answer in the Second Fugue of Fantasia ex D

As a general rule, although Weckmann designs a single fugue subject for the entirety of any

given fugue (monothematic), he ultimately always develops that subject rhythmically in

subsequent sections by means of rhythmic augmentation / diminution. The augmentation and

diminution techniques bring a sense of development of musical material over time, providing a

sense of meta-rhythmic dimensions, as well as giving directional continuity to the music. Other

compositional thematic development techniques of Weckmann include morphing the fugue

subject into independent episodic motives (subsequently referred to here as “IEMs”, which

consist of episodic material, or sequences that are motivically-derived from the fugue subject.)

Each Weckmann fugue has a unique design. The only relatively predictable factors are 1) the

opening voice of a fugal piece (consistently the Alto, and in subsequent subsections involving

tempo proportion change sometimes the Tenor), 2) the tonal answer aspect and 3) the "unity

within variety" concept.262

4.1.1.8 The "Unity within Variety" Concept and IEMs

The "unity within variety" concept is a phrase I use to describe the manner of presenting

recurring thematic material in a fugal piece by considering the design of each individual melodic

voice, as well as the structure of the piece overall. The concept essentially rests on two pillars: 1)

unity of material (which deals with how similar one melodic theme is to another), and 2) variety

of material (which describes melodic-rhythmic themes created for the purpose of being different

262 See the next section (4.1.1.8) for a detailed explanation.

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to what has come before).263 Since Weckmann preserves his basic fugal melodic outline

throughout the entire piece — in other words, he literally does not change the subject at the onset

of a new subsection, but casts it in a new tempo-texture relationship — he thereby achieves

remarkable "unity within variety" of melodic material.264 It is clear from this analysis exercise

that the structural and thematic elements are inextricably linked to one another, and so one

cannot adequately consider the formal aspects of a Weckmann fugue without also considering

the thematic ones (subject/answer statements); conversely, one cannot satisfactorily isolate the

subject on its own without also taking into account the entire deployment across all voice parts.

Other ways in which Weckmann strengthens the "unity within variety" concept is by

incorporating contrasting material nevertheless related (either rhythmically or melodically) to the

initial fugue subject.265 As one example of this technique, see Figure 11, which shows

mm. 26 – 30 of the Fantasia ex D, in which Weckmann derives sequential material directly from

the subject's rhythmic outline.

Figure 10: Fugue Subject of Fantasia ex D

263 The balance between both pillars of the "unity within variety" concept are compositional qualities which Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) exemplified, and took extremely seriously in his writing — to the degree that he tore up entire string quartets when they were not perfect in his own estimation.

264 Most likely Weckmann learned this compositional device from his teacher, Jacob Praetorius II.

265 Weckmann uses this technique often, even in the Chorale-based Works — as we shall see later in this chapter.

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Figure 11: Episodic and Sequential Material Derived from the Subject Outline

Weckmann creates further thematic variety by incorporating recurring independent episodic

motives (IEM). These IEMs are typically developed "organically" in conjunction with subject

statements — that is, these contrasting motives typically begin at the same time a subject

statement is heard. The IEM then grows, is repeated, and then may pervade large subsections of

the rest of the fugue.

The Weckmann IEMs are not countersubjects, because they are usually freer rhythmic-harmonic

units. Their function is to bring variety to the work as a whole.266 An example showing a striking

IEM in Weckmann's music is the rising dotted rhythm figure emerging from a statement of the

fugue subject from the Fantasia ex D's second fugue, m. 60 onwards:

266 As we will see in the next section on the Chorale-based Works, Weckmann even uses IEMs to develop into fully-fledged motivic units, a possible precursor to the technique employed in some of the later Baroque works of J.S. Bach.

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Figure 12: An Independent Rhythmic Episodic motive (IEM) "growing" out of the subject

statement in the Fantasia ex D, Part 2

4.1.1.9 Stylus Fantasticus [SF] in the Free Works

Improvisatory SF (stylus fantasticus) forms an integral thematic and structural part of both

Weckmann's Free Works, as well as his Chorale-based repertoire. This means that although SF

takes on formal dimensions (in the sense that it is possible to label an entire fugal section as "free

stylus fantasticus"), SF also presents itself on a thematic level — especially as SF flourishes in

Weckmann's free works create large gestures in the music that have the potential for enormous

emotional expression when done so effectively by the performer.267 In the SF sections, the

rhythmic/harmonic gestures themselves often replace the usual "thematic elements". SF thus

brings a dimension of dialogue into this music. The SF sections usually consist of fragmented

motivic and rhythmic-harmonic units, as opposed to the more linear melodic entities exemplified

in melodies / themes that perpetuate Weckmann's fugal writing.268 The following section will

delve into more detail about ways in which SF precipitates thematically as rhetorical devices

within Weckmann's free pieces.

267 To date, there has unfortunately been a lack of scholarly attention dealing with the presence of improvisatory SF in Weckmann's music. Scholarship that comes close includes the chapter in Davidsson Matthias Weckmann, 1991, as SF is discussed only with regards to the Free Works, and not adequately addressed in regard to the Chorale-based Works. Ilgner 1939 also mentions SF with regards to the Free Works, but very briefly. Part of the problem is the nebulous nature of the concept of SF, which through the ages has presented challenges to scholars and performers alike.

268 Note, this does not refer to SF accompanying the Cantus Firmus, which sometimes happens in the Chorale-based Works, as we will see later in this chapter.

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4.1.1.9.1 Imaginative Uses of SF

Exploring a Modal Space, Embodying Freedom

Consider the SF opening of the Praeambulum primi Toni269 a.5. Free improvisatory SF

gestures abound after the opening harmonic framework270 of the piece shown in Figure 13 below

(mm. 1 – 7):

Figure 13: Opening of Praeambulum primi Toni a.5, mm. 1 – 7

This opening formula comprises a relatively simple harmonic-melodic outline, and the purpose

here is to sketch a simple chordal progression that can be developed further by the improviser

during the rest of the piece. The SF scalar passages in both the left and right hand that ensue in

m.8 are a dynamic visceral response to this solid opening gesture. SF passages provide

opportunities for striking and exhilarating effects in the music, where the extroverted flourishes

often become flamboyantly extravagant.

In the thrilling Weckmann recordings by Wolfgang Zerer271 and Hans Davidsson272 the

compelling energy and impetus given by their improvised ornamentation can be heard distinctly.

An important part of modern performance practice for organists is to improvise ornamentation

269 The piece is composed in Primi Toni meaning the first tone, i.e. d, and “a5”, which means "in 5 voices".

270 Voice-leading principles are important here, because Weckmann stays true to his contrapuntal foundations, even within a free virtuosic section. Notice the sweeping upward melodic line of the soprano voice, which is mirrored by the contrary motion in the bass.

271 Wolfgang Zerer: Matthias Weckmann: Organ Works Vol. 1 and 2, Naxos 8.553849 and 8.553850.

272 Hans Davidsson: Weckman: The Complete Organ Works, Loft Recordings #1065.

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where appropriate; in fact, Wolfgang Zerer has shown that several different creative possibilities

exist.273 The harmonic outline from Figure 13 provides the performer with leeway to improvise

ornamentation (according to the inspiration of the moment) because of its simplicity, and

simultaneously sets up the potential energy with which to launch straight into the upcoming SF

virtuosic scalar passagework in Figure 14, exploring fully the modal space of the first tone, d:

Figure 14: Launch into Virtuosic SF Passagework of m. 8

SF Conclusions/Confirmations

In all of the Free Works, the final fugal section moves into an SF conclusion. Sometimes the

transformation from contrapuntal texture to free SF is more gradual; at other times, Weckmann

transitions quickly/ abruptly into SF. An example of a more gradual transformation is shown in

Figure 15 in the Fuga ex D ped primi Toni, mm. 146 – 151. Notice that m. 146 is still regular

fugal material, and the subject is started in parallel 10ths, but transforms almost seamlessly into

free SF during the course of m. 147, and beyond. Weckmann initiates the kinetic motion above

by using the melodic outline of the subject, and this motion grows organically to transition into

the final improvisatory SF:

273 Compare Zerer's live performance of the same piece in 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deyut7POcso.

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Figure 15: End of Fuga ex d ped primi Toni.274

Dialogue Creation: Rhetorical Questions and Answers/ Refutations

In the Fantasia ex D, the fugal texture breaks down suddenly into free SF as well. Here the

transformation into SF happens with an interesting twist, however, as Weckmann takes the

rhetorical device a step further, and creates a dialogue of gestures. Weckmann first creates an

abrupt “interruption motive”, which he then repeats several times after its first instance in

Figure 16, m. 97 — thereby setting up a dynamic dialogue after the end of the fugal part in

mm. 95 – 102:

274 Note the small diamond note head at the asterisk [*] is a suggested note (doubling the C# is probably a copyist error).

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Figure 16: Dialogue of Gestures / Rhetorical Questions in the Pre-Final SF Virtuosic Flourish

in Weckmann's Fantasia ex D

This dialogue has the potential to create a sense of surprise in the listener, as Weckmann uses

these interesting combinations of musical gestures and rests that create a "rhetorical question".

The effect will be best observed in an actual performance, and the written musical example

above unfortunately falls short of what could be otherwise easily and effectively demonstrated

during a live performance. Weckmann uses these short declamatory interjections of a D 6/5

chord resolving to a g-minor chord (or, not resolving immediately — as the case may be). The

D6/5 chord is either interspersed with rests/silences, or it resolves to a g-minor chord — as for

example does happen in m. 99, and again in mm. 101 – 102.

This series of interactions between sound and silence as described in Figure 16 is followed by a

potentially large agogic silence275 which is not actually written in the score (m. 102). Though no

rest is notated after the dotted half note in m. 102, the kinetic energy which had built up from the

passage prior to that arguably dictates the necessity of insertion of this agogic space. The agogic

silence will be needed, in order to allow the chord to resonate within the acoustic space, thereby

releasing kinetic energy, and simultaneously allowing the performer to take a breath to prepare a

proper launch into the ensuing passage in m. 103, shown in Figure 17.276 The final free SF

275 An agogic accent is an accent perceived to occur due to a slight stress on the note, i.e. it receives a slightly longer duration than is written, and so by virtue of the same analogy then, an agogic silence is a silence or rest which receives a slight stress, thereby slightly increasing its duration.

276 The aspect of agogic silence and agogic accent is one performance consideration in organ music which does not receive enough scholarly attention, possibly because this aspect involves interaction of the instrument and the space in which the music is performed, and so cannot be adequately described on paper.

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flourish what follows then, seemingly out of the blue, tumbles down from mm. 103 – 111 in a

flurry of descending triplet motions, with intensifying harmonic rhythm and expressivity greatly

accelerating towards the end of the piece. This end gesture shown in Figure 17 provides an

exhilarating "answer" to the aforementioned "rhetorical questions" that were posed in Figure 16:

Figure 17: Triplet Tumbling SF in the Final Measures of the Fantasia ex D

The whole piece then concludes with a fiery SF ending:

Figure 18: End of Fantasia ex D

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4.1.2 Chorale-based Works

There are eight (8) Chorale-based Works by Weckmann which have been preserved, two of

which are gigantic chorale cycles in multiple verses (O lux beata Trinitas and Es ist das Heil

uns kommen her). In Weckmann’s Chorale-based organ music, the chorale tune is presented in

several verses, between three and seven verses each.277

The Chorale-based Works of Weckmann draw upon both Lutheran hymns as well as Gregorian

chant as source material. The Gregorian chants (e.g. Magnificat and O lux Beata Trinitas) —

although Catholic in origin — were widely adopted into the Protestant liturgy as early as the

Reformation.278 A vast repertory of Lutheran chorale melodies was originally composed during

the Protestant Reformation (such as Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein)279. Still other

Lutheran hymns were originally Catholic melodies that became textually or melodically

modified (or both) during their incorporation into the Protestant church, for example Es ist das

Heil uns kommen her.

It is not entirely clear how these Chorale-based Works would have been actively applied by

Weckmann within the liturgy at St. Jacobi in Hamburg, but some scholars (in particular

Davidsson 1991) propose an alternatim practice of playing organ verses. Alternatim playing

implies that an organ-only verse is played in between each sung stanza of the chorale tune (or

chant), like in the Magnificat II. Toni, for example.280 The chorale text is of vital importance in

277 Except for Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet, which was supposed to have 3 verses, but unfortunately only 2 complete verses have survived. The third verse is a fragment only.

278 Even though it is often assumed that Protestant worship has always been very far removed from Catholic Practice, this was liturgically not the case especially during the early part of the Reformation and many of the liturgical parts of the service, as well as service music, remained virtually unchanged by Martin Luther. Some Lutheran tunes e.g. Christ lag in Todesbanden were metricized exact versions of the Gregorian Chants (e.g. Victimae paschali laudes). Thanks to Dr. Kevin Komisaruk for bringing this to my attention. Also see the original German Mass by Luther.

279 Some Reformation chorales such as Nun freut euch, lieben Christen G'mein were newly composed by Martin Luther.

280 See Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 112 for a discussion of alternatim practice, as well as the extensive discussion pertaining to North German Lutheran liturgies of the early 17th century in the preface of the Visby Tablature edition by Jeffery Kite-Powell, 1979.

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understanding Weckmann’s settings. Weckmann builds his entire composition upon the Cantus

Firmus as foundation.

In Weckmann's music, settings of chorale melodies contain from three to seven verses. A variety

of textures and conventions for quotation of the chorale tune (hereafter abbreviated CF for

Cantus Firmus) appear in each verse. The following discussion will aim to illustrate

Weckmann's ingenuity and creativity as a composer-improviser by clarifying the 1) CF

placement techniques he employed, and 2) the conventions implemented for accompanying the

CF.

CHORALE

MELODY

Incipit of Chorale / Chant Liturgical

Function

Es ist das Heil uns kommen her281

Song of "Justification by Faith"282

Magnificat II. toni283

Vespers

Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ284 (I and II)

Praise, Advent

281 "Es ist das heyl vns kom̃en her" translates to "Salvation is come down to us"; the version of the incipit graphic of the melody is taken from the Erfurt Enchiridion, 1524.


283 Magnificat secundi toni, meaning Magnificat on the second tone.

284 "Gelobet seystu Jhesu Christ" translates to "Praise be to Jesus Christ"; melody as found in Walter's Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn, 1524.

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Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g‘mein285

Gradual286

Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet287

Communion288

O lux Beata Trinitas289

Vespers

Ach wir armen Sünder*290

Passiontide; Beloved for fasting291

Komm, heiliger Geist, Herre Gott292

Pentecost

Table 11: The Chorale Melodies Weckmann Used and their Liturgical Function

285 "Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein" translates to English as "Now rejoice, all you Christians"; the melody is also found in the Erfurt Enchiridion, 1524.


287 "God be praised and blessed", sung to the chant Lauda Sion.


289 "O light, blessed Trinity". Taken from Franz Eler, Cantica Sacra, 1588.

290 "Ah, poor sinners that we are". As seen in the last part of Chapter 4 of this dissertation, this work has been suspected by some scholars not to be by written by Weckmann, even though the scribe put Weckmann's name on the title page, using the words "di M. Weckmann".


292 "Come Holy Spirit, Lord God"; melody from the Erfurt Enchiridion, 1524. The melody comes from the antiphon for Pentecost, Veni Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium.

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4.1.2.1 Cantus Firmus Placement Techniques

Broadly there are three distinct ways in which Weckmann presents the CF, but simply because

broad categories can be drawn, this should not divert attention from the fact that the way in

which Weckmann combines and varies textures is highly innovative. Similarly, there are seven

broad categories of accompaniment procedures for the CF. For any particular CF set by

Weckmann, the source tune can appear 1) plainly stated293 without ornamentation in a single

voice part, or 2) stated as an ornamented CF with varying note values within a single voice part,

or 3) dispersed throughout the piece using imitative treatment.

4.1.2.1.1 Evident / Plain CF

The Evident/ Plain CF technique is present when Weckmann presents the CF in its entirety, both

in long note values, and in one voice part.294 There are several instances in Weckmann's oeuvre

showing examples of Evident CF statements taking place in a single voice part (such as in the

tenor, the pedal, and the soprano) — as shown below in Figures 19, 20 and 21 respectively:

a. CF in Tenor

Figure 19: Verse 1 of the Magnificat II. Toni shows the CF in the Tenor 2 Voice, mm. 1 – 7.

293 The "plainly stated CF technique" was referred to during the 17th century in Latin part books and treatises as choralis; see Elizabeth Ann Spence, “Music as the Means to an End : An Inquiry into the Musical Content of the Works of Georg Philipp Harsdörffer,” (DPhil diss., University of British Columbia, 1983:23); and the treatise COMPENDIVM MVSICAE LATINO-GERMANICVM by Adam Gumpelzhaimer, which explains the fundamentals of music in both Latin and German, 1646: 10. https://stimmbuecher.digitale-sammlungen.de/view?id=bsb00084035; Accessed 29 August 2020.

294 This technique is well-documented, and can be seen in several theoretical and practical treatises of the early 17th-century, where it is described as musica choralis. The decorated florid voices surrounding the CF are described as musica figuralis, ibid.

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b. CF in pedal

Figure 20: A Pedals-only Evident CF in Verse 2 of O lux beata Trinitas, mm. 9 – 13

c. CF in soprano

Figure 21: Verse 4 of O lux beata Trinitas, Variation I :CF in the Soprano, mm. 1 – 6

4.1.2.1.2 Ornamented CF

The second broad category of CF composition technique Weckmann uses is the Ornamented CF.

Instead of stating the CF note values plainly in long notes, Weckmann ornaments the CF instead,

with ornamentation intensity varying from piece to piece. The extent of the ornamentation ranges

from decorating only a select few CF notes in the pedal (such as for example in Verse 1 of

Es ist das Heil uns kommen her) to some very florid and extensive ornamentations, normally in

the right hand or left hand. In one example from the Magnificat II. Toni's second verse

(mm. 1 – 8) shown in Figure 22, a beautiful florid ornamented CF solo in the right hand can be

seen. The CF notes are circled in green:

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Figure 22: Ornamented CF in Verse 2 of Magnificat II. Toni

4.1.2.1.3 Dispersed / Imitative CF

The third category is arguably the most compositionally interesting, in which the CF is

fragmented and incorporated into exchanges resembling dialogues between some or all the

voices. In some cases, the CF is clearly audible, and in others the CF may become highly

obscured by the accompanying texture around it. In other instances still, the CF becomes almost

only "implied" through highly fragmented source material quotations in the accompanying

voices i.e. not strictly stated; for example, sometimes the note-value of the CF melody note is

temporarily shortened dramatically, as to almost vanish momentarily from the texture, as is the

case in Gelobet Seist Du, Jesu Christ (I) verse 1.

This dispersed/imitative CF is normally freely scattered amongst the voices, and is seen to occur

in several of Weckmann's Chorale-Based Works, including Es ist das Heil uns kommen her,

Komm heiliger Geist, Gelobet seist Du Jesu Christ (I) and Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet.

Throughout the extensive and beautiful chorale-fantasy like second verse of Gelobet seist Du,

Jesu Christ (I) we see an instance in which it is ambiguous to determine which voice carries the

"primary statement" of the CF:

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Figure 23: Opening of Verse 2, Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ with Imitative CF

4.1.2.2 Textures Surrounding the Cantus Firmus

This section describes some accompaniment techniques, and the textures with which Weckmann

surrounds the CF. Weckmann achieves a variety of accompaniment techniques by generally

treating the remaining two to five voices in the following seven ways.

4.1.2.2.1 Imitation / Vor-Imitation

Weckmann frequently uses vor-imitation as an introductory gesture with which to begin a verse

before the main CF enters. Usually appearing in the same note values as the main CF, this

device is used by Weckmann only before the statement of the first phrase of the CF, and not

always before subsequent phrases. Notably, this is different from what J.S. Bach (1685 – 1750)

does in his chorale preludes, where the vor-imitation is typically in smaller note values than the

CF, and can occur again before subsequent phrases in the composition. In addition, sometimes

the vor-imitation of Weckmann comprises the entire first phrase of the CF, as in Figure 24 below

from Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein, where the soprano has the vor-imitation and the

bass contains the actual CF in m. 5:

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Figure 24: Vor-imitation in Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein, Verse 1

Sometimes the vor-imitation uses only a few notes, or a single phrase quoted from the CF, as in

Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet verse 2 (not shown).

4.1.2.2.2 Canon

Canon as accompaniment texture for the CF happens in several verses, particularly of the two

largest chorale cycles — Es ist das Heil uns kommen her and O lux Beata Trinitas. The

following example in Figure 25 demonstrates the beginning of Verse 4 of Es ist das Heil uns

kommen her, showing the two accompanying voices entering in consistent canon at the octave:

Figure 25: Canonic technique in Est ist das Heil uns kommen her, Verse 4

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4.1.2.2.3 Harmonic accompaniment to an SF passage/ Ornamented CF

Whenever SF figures are found in the CF (usually an ornamented CF), the accompaniment

voices on numerous occasions appear in simple chordal style, as in the following exuberant

example in Figure 26. Here Weckmann's melodic gesture in the soprano reaches all the way to

the top part of the range of the manual keyboards (C6 in m. 144 of Figure 26) while the alto,

tenor and bass voices move at slower rhythmic values, creating a harmonic tapestry or backdrop

against which the florid CF can be heard beautifully. The following virtuosic and technically

challenging excerpt is taken from verse 6 of Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, mm. 136 – 148:

Figure 26: SF as Ornamentation in Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, Verse 6

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4.1.2.2.4 Sesquialtera (SQ)

Sesquialtera is a Latin term referring to the mathematical proportion 3:2. In this case, the

proportion indicates the quarter note beat is divided into three eighth notes instead of two.

Weckmann uses Sesquialtera (abbreviated hereinafter as SQ to refer specifically to a rhythmic

proportion, and not tempo proportion) as an important expressive textural device in at least one

verse of all his Chorale-based Works, with the exception of two cases (Gelobet Seist du, Jesu

Christ I and Ach wir armen Sünder.) In verse 3 of Komm, heiliger Geist, we see the CF in the

bass being accompanied by several SQ figures in the manuals, mm. 22 – 27:

Figure 27: Sesquialtera (SQ) in Komm, heiliger Geist, Verse 3.

4.1.2.2.5 Chromaticism

Verse 3 of Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein contains some peculiar descending

chromatic dialogues in the manuals, accompanying the CF in the pedal. In a meantone

temperament, these descending chromatic gestures will create stark contrasts. Compared to

Weckmann's other chorale preludes, it is a technique heard in some verses of Es ist das Heil and

in the last verse of O lux Beata Trinitas to symbolize light emerging from darkness, and

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therefore invites a comparison with the appropriate hymn text. Interestingly, consonances in this

example always occur on the half note beats (i.e. stronger parts of the metric pulse, beats 1 and

3) while the dissonant chromatic notes occur on the beats in between. See Figure 28 below:

Figure 28: Chromaticism in Nun freut, euch lieben Christen g’mein, Verse 3

4.1.2.2.6 Echo Passages

Like the compositional techniques of other North German organ contemporaries such as Franz

Tunder (1614 – 1667)295, Weckmann also employs echo effects that require quick manual

changes in some of his Chorale-based Works. The echo passages are not necessarily

independent musical units, but often accompany the CF, or function as interludes between

successive statements of CF phrases. Such echo effects are found, for example, in

295 See, for example the chorale-based piece "Auf meinen lieben Gott" by Franz Tunder.

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Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet verse 2 mm. 64 – 65, and Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ (I)

verse 2 mm. 70–88 (not shown). The echo effect passages add technical difficulty in terms of the

performance of these pieces, because of the large distances between successive manuals that

must be quickly and efficiently traversed.

4.1.2.2.7 Double Pedal

The double pedal technique is another device that arguably comes from Weckmann's teacher, i.e.

from the Jacob Praetorius school of organ playing. Double pedal technique shows an advanced

level of embodied skill typified in Weckmann’s improvisatory settings, and they typically

happen in first and/or last verses (except in Ach wir armen Sünder, where double pedal is

found in the second verse). The overall effect is normally to reinforce the CF with the one foot,

while playing the composed bass voice with the other foot, and in so doing to fill out the

harmony texturally within the context of the full organ sound. A good example of combining

double pedal technique with the CF can be seen in the last verse of Es ist das Heil uns kommen

her, mm. 1 – 5:

Figure 29: Double Pedal Technique in Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, Verse 7

4.1.2.3 Range / Ambitus in the Chorale-based Works

Weckmann showcases the organ to its most advantageous effect — a defining characteristic of

an expert improviser. Weckmann uses practically the entire possible instrumental range of the

organ when composing his pieces, as also previously seen in the section on the Free Works.

Texturally, Weckmann explores permutations of different voice-part combinations. This means

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that the music is most often in four- to six-voice counterpoint (but also includes two- and three-

voice interludes), providing great textural variety.

An example of the wide range that Weckmann explores in his writing for the organ can be seen in

Figure 30, where the flourish at the end of Verse 2 of Gelobet Seist du, Jesu Christ (I) is shown.

This brilliant excerpt, where Weckmann experiments with harmonics generated by the organ stops

(induced by adding the mixtures296 of different ranks), includes low pedal G2, the manual's lowest

note C2, and its second to highest note, B6:

Figure 30: Use of Wide Ranges in mm. 115 – 123 in Verse 2 of Gelobet Seist Du, Jesu

Christ (I)

296 When playing this excerpt correctly, one will hear certain notes "pop" out in the texture; notes which are not written in the score, because of the harmonics from the Mixture stop of the organ that multiply and super-impose on one another.

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As previously noted, in Weckmann's organ music, large sections of the pedal compass are often

traversed297; similarly, the manual compasses are explored completely as well. Recall, as well,

that Weckmann's music often calls for multiple manuals and manual changes by employing

different manuals for the solo, accompaniment, or echo divisions. The music becomes quite the

multi-tasking feat for the organist! Sometimes there is even extreme register double pedal

involved, like this excerpt in Figure 31, showing mm. 20 – 27 of the last verse of Es ist das Heil

uns kommen her:

Figure 31: Double Pedal and Large Ranges in Verse 7 of Es ist das Heil uns kommen her

The potential expressive use of varying registrations is simultaneously amplified in Weckmann's

organ music, because the dynamic range can vary from very soft (pianissimo) on gentle 4' and 8'

flutes or principals, to colourful overtone-rich reed stops, to the full organ — all combined to

exhibit a kaleidoscope of timbres.298

297 Pedal range on the St. Jacobi organ in 1657 would have been C2 to D4, with a short octave (i.e. no C#2 or D#2). See Chapter 3 on Weckmann's instruments for the full instrument dispositions.

298 Refer to Chapter 3, "Registration and Weckmann's instruments", for a more detailed discussion on registration.

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4.2 Part 2: Cadences and Cadential Formulae

In this section, I focus on cadential formulae that Weckmann employs in the Free Works, as well

as the Chorale-based Works. Cadences in the 17th century arise from specific voice-leading

motions that were so often combined in a particular way, that these came to be recognized as

standard cadential formulae.299 I will not go into extensive detail in the present chapter with

regards to the numerous terminologies given to cadences by the historical theorists at this time;

however see Rotem (2015) for a comprehensive and detailed summary.300

For the purpose of this section, I will use the Latin names for the voice-leading motions, the

English terms for the types of cadences, as well as show their corresponding Roman Numeral-

designations. The clauses are important because they designate subtleties about cadence types

and movements in the same way that punctuation operates within language. The clauses can be

moved around to create different types of cadences, but their unique combinations result in either

stronger cadences or less strongly pronounced cadences. By the same analogy, a sentence can be

structured using different degrees of punctuation, with the exclamation mark giving extra

emphasis and strength to the ending! Weckmann’s use of cadences (or evading them to achieve

musical flow) is a critical aspect for performers to consider.

On the surface level, cadences are built using individual voice-leading motions such as the

tenorizans, cantizans and bassizans clauses.301 The voice-leading motions can be defined as

follows, where the names below refer to a kind of motion by interval and direction, not to any

particular voice-part (these motions can take place in any voice part):

299 Cadences and cadential formulae are paramount in the analysis in order to help pinpoint subsections, and what constitutes motivic-phrase-like structures, or which notes of a CF phrase are emphasized. Understanding cadences in this music allows for a more discernible structure and clarity in performance.

300 Elam Rotem, “Early Basso Continuo Practice: Implicit Evidence in the Music of Emilio de' Cavalieri,” (PhD diss., Universität Würzburg, 2015).

301 Rotem, “Early Basso Continuo”. Note that there is another clause called altizans, which essentially is the voice-part remaining on the same pitch level, or the part that fills in the last bit of harmony after all the other clauses have been taken.

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Tenorizans clause: the voice-part descending by step toward the final:

Cantizans clause: voice-part ascends by step:

Bassizans clause: the voice part descending by a leap of a 5th or ascending by a 4th:

From a broader perspective, cadences can be easily classified according to Rotem302, based on

their bass motion and inner rhythmical division. For the purposes of analyzing Weckmann's

music, I will consider only the bass motion, and classify the types as follows:

TYPES OF BASS MOTION

GREATEST DEGREE of FINALITY --------------------- LESSER DEGREE of FINALITY ��

AUTHENTIC (Type I) PLAGAL (Type II) TENOR (Type III)303

lowest note ↓5th or ↑4th lowest note ↓4th or ↑5th lowest note ↓2nd

V – i or V – I iv – I vii°6 – i

Table 12: Types of Bass Motion in Cadences

302 Rotem, “Early Basso Continuo”, 119.

303 Note that there is a fourth type where the bass clause goes up by a whole step, called the CANTO cadence. It is not included here.

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Figure 32: Models of the Cadence Types

4.2.1 Cadenza Doppia

A particular subtype of the authentic cadence that shows up frequently in Weckmann's music is

the cadenza doppia. The cadenza doppia is a special case, as it is a decorated version of the

authentic cadence, a basic model of which is shown below in Figure 33.304 This unique type of

cadence includes what is called some form of the cantizans clause [3(#) – 4 – 4 – 3(#)] combined

with the tenorizans, forming a four-step cadence. The essential gist of this cadential formula is

that the interval of a dissonant fourth results together with a fifth on a metrically strong part of

the bar after hearing the fourth as a consonance on the beat prior:

Figure 33: The Basic Model of Cadenza Doppia

304 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 148 quotes the cadenza doppia as being part of Kircher's cosmic harmony, and so by the time Kircher wrote his treatise, the cadence had significant influence in the mid-17th-century. It is called cadenza doppia for the reasons explained in Menke, Kontrapunkt II, 58 – 62. However, conceiving the cadenza doppia as a pure authentic cadence can be a bit of a mental trap, because in fact the clauses are so pliable that the formula can be transformed and used to start pieces, placed mid-phrase, or to build sequences; and so we must be careful not to think of it merely as a fancy V – I, as there are instances where it does not fulfil a V – I role.

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Weckmann generally implements the cadenza doppia in his organ works in the following

contexts: to end "phrases"305, end a section and begin another with or without elision, linking

sequences, episodes, or CF statements, to interrupt a section preceding an SF passage or CF

statement, and to end a piece.306

4.2.1.1 Ending “Phrases”

Cadenza doppia is sometimes used by Weckmann as a kind of "phrase marker", i.e. one can get a

sense of where to place musical "phrase" marks when looking for instances of cadenza doppia.

In the Praeambulum primi Toni a.5 there are 3 total instances of cadenza doppia, all of which

specifically end coherent motivic figurations within the piece. These mid-piece "phrase markers"

all contain in their voice-leading a lesser degree of finality when compared to end-of-piece

authentic cadences. The voice-leading in the soprano determines the degree of perceived finality

in context.

For example, in the free improvisatory SF flourishes of the Praeambulum primi Toni's Part I,

Weckmann uses cadenza doppia three times, culminating with the major third in the soprano

voice on the ultimate chord.

Compare mm. 10 – 11, mm. 14 – 15 and mm. 19 – 20:

Figure 34: Praeambulum primi Toni a.5, mm. 10 – 11 and mm. 14 – 15

305 I use the word "phrases" in quotation marks, because it is not to be thought of as used in the Classical sense.

306 However, Weckmann’s creativity as a composer flows forth, and he shows especially in the Chorale-based Works that he can implement cadenza doppia in several unexpected ways.

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Figure 35: Praeambulum primi Toni a.5, mm. 19 – 20

Taking all three examples above into account, note how the diminution of 16th notes in the Tenor

2 becomes transferred to the Soprano voice in mm. 14 – 15, and then finally back to the Tenor 2,

mm. 19 – 20. This displays versatility in giving different voices different cadential clauses,

showing a level of contrapuntal dialogue and awareness in the part-writing, even within the

context of free and homophonically-conceived SF.

4.2.1.2 Ending Sections (with or without an Elision)

Another way in which Weckmann uses cadenza doppia strategically is to end sections while

simultaneously starting a new section by means of an elision. An example of this is the iteration

of a highly decorated cadenza doppia at the end of Part I of the Praeambulum primi Toni,

mm. 23 – 24. When considering the degree of cadence finality, we see a correlation with the

greater meta-framework ending. The signal is that the piece is not over yet — but a significant

subsection is ending. Thus, Weckmann places the fifth of the final chord in the soprano voice,

instead of the 3rd of the chord, as we saw earlier in Figure 35:


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Note in Figure 36 how the diminution figure is now doubled in parallel 6ths: both Tenor 1 and 2

have the "running 16ths" figure, which greatly intensifies the dazzling final effect, while at the

same time recalling and echoing the virtuosic elements that were heard previously during the

opening formula of the same piece, mm. 8 – 11 and 14 – 15. Weckmann thus creates a "unity

within variety" of melodic ideas again.307

A final statement of a highly decorated cadenza doppia is heard in the first fugue of the

Praeambulum primi Toni a.5, this time at the end of Part II, mm. 52 – 53, where (at last!) the

octave is found in the soprano voice. It thus signals the highest degree of cadence finality at the

end of the subsection:


Figure 37 demonstrates an artistic tour de force. Weckmann swaps the clauses: he begins the

motion with the characteristic cantizans #3 – 4 clause in the Tenor 2, but then jumps up to the

Soprano to complete the "missing" 4 – #3. The decorated tenorizans in the Alto voice follows the

extensive pattern 7 – 6 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 7, which seems a far cry from the original 5 – 6 – 5 – 5

model we started off with.

In the Fuga ex D ped primi Toni Weckmann uses cadenza doppia only once — one with no

direct resolution — and which acts as a transition between the larger sections (i.e. it becomes the

tempo proportion change, going from a 3/2 meter to alla breve) in m. 119. Note that, in contrast

307 As previously explained in detail in Part 1, Free Works.

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to the Praeambulum primi toni a.5, there is no "fugue emergence" here, but the cadenza

doppia is interrupted before the fugue subject begins:

Figure 38: Cadenza Doppia in the Fuga ex D ped. primi Toni, End of Part II,

mm. 119 – 120

4.2.1.3 Linking Sequences / Episodes

Cadenza doppia is also used as a device with which to launch sequential passages. In the

Fantasia ex D, this happens in mm. 26 – 27, where Weckmann creates a "disrupted by rests"

cadenza doppia at the end of the episodic material of sequences, before launching into yet

another sequence (with the soprano voice as a modified version of the fugue subject):

Figure 39: The “Interrupted by Rests” Cadenza Doppia

In Figure 39 above, scale degrees are shown with the ^ symbol, while counterpoint intervals

above the bass are shown with Arabic numerals. Notice the quick but very dissonant clash of the

Alto voice A with Tenor 1's G# on beat 2 of m. 26. Other instances of the cadenza doppia used

as part of the sequential movement also occur, namely in mm. 28 – 29 of the same piece.

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4.2.1.4 Creating a Sense of Closure before a SF section / CF statement

In the next example, from the Fantasia ex D, there are two cadenza doppia figures that follow

closely upon each other. They end the first fugal section before a free SF transition; the first

cadenza doppia is stated as an "interruption" in mm. 37 – 38, and the second cadenza doppia in

m. 40 resolves to a first inversion chord at the beginning of an SF section. The rather short-lived

SF section mm. 41 – 43 is a transition to the second fugue. The first cadenza doppia is strong

and standard, but it occurs in conjunction with a final — albeit partial — subject entry (in Tenor

2) before the transformation of the fugal texture into SF free style. Figure 40 shows the first of

these cadenza doppia figures in mm. 37 – 38, and Figure 41 demonstrates the entire excerpt in

context:

Figure 40: Cadenza Doppia in the Fantasia ex D, mm. 37 - 38

Figure 41: SF Virtuosic Flourish after the Characteristic Cadenza Doppia Statement

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Weckmann also uses cadenza doppia to provide a certain breath marker in the "phrase", before

the main CF enters, confirming in its cadential effect by coinciding with entrance of the first note

of the real CF, as shown in Es ist das Heil uns kommen her verse 1, mm. 10 – 12:

Figure 42: Cadenza Doppia before the entrance of the main CF in Es ist das Heil, Verse 1

4.2.1.5 To End a Piece

In the Toccata ex D, almost no cadences happen in the entire piece. The cadenza doppia at the

very end is modified with a missing #3 in the soprano. The cadential moment occurs within a full

6-voice texture as a V – I cadence, combined with some very expressive dissonances (9, #7, 5,

and 4), mm. 55 – 56:

Figure 43: Final Cadence of the Toccata ex D

4.2.2 Expressive Dissonances after a Cadence

Sometimes Weckmann incorporates some particularly expressive dissonances during or after

cadential moments to embellish the final cadence with an extension passage. An impressive

example of a chromatic extension after the final cadence occurs during the last verse of the

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Magnificat II Toni. The last cadence decoration is particularly striking, with Weckmann using

the dissonances (9, b6, 4 on the penultimate chord) and employing modal mixture on the ultimate

note, which gives us the metaphorical impression of the light emerging from the darkness

(mm. 22 – 23):

Figure 44: Final Cadence Extension of the Magnificat II. Toni

Another example shows in the dissonances (9, 8, #7 and 5) on the penultimate chord of the final

plagal cadence decoration, mm. 59 – 60 of O lux beata Trinitas, verse 1

Figure 45: Decoration of “Plagal Cadence” Extension at the End of O lux beata Trinitas,

Verse 1

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4.3 Part 3: Harmony in Weckmann’s Organ Works

The bulk of Weckmann's organ works were written around the middle of the 17th century, at a

time when the modes and modality were still providing the primary harmonic architecture for

keyboard music. At the same time, what we understand today as tonality — centered around

major and minor keys — is beginning to emerge.308

In the present study, I examine the Chorale-based Works with a view towards identifying the

degree to which key centers, tonal chord progressions, and overall tonal closure309 showcase

tonality in Weckmann's music. Some of the large-scale chorale cycles based on chants (such as

the Magnificat II. Toni, Es ist das Heil uns kommen her and O lux beata Trinitas) still show

a greater predominance of modal influence, and thus do not exhibit tonal closure.

4.3.1 Tonal Closure or Lack Thereof

To demonstrate general tonal closure or show a lack thereof, the first and last measure of each

piece was examined, and the following observations made. Four of the Chorale-based Works

begin and end on different chords. These tonally ambiguous works are marked with an asterisk

on pages 117 to 119. In many of the imitative openings and subsequent verses that employ

canonic technique, the tonality is often not clear until the main CF voice enters. This makes

sense, because the Chorale-based Works are based upon the chant, and these chants frequently

also do not begin and end on the same note. The chant therefore contains the "harmonic world"

within the melody itself and generates different harmonic possibilities. Said otherwise, the chant

has the potential to generate a much larger structure beyond its mere surface horizontal melodic

dimension.

In the series of tables below, a major triad is designated with a capital letter e.g. D for D-major, a

minor triad with an uppercase letter followed by small "min" e.g. G min for G-minor. Square

308Although scholars have been unable to identify exactly how this process took place, they have made way in identifying relevant processes. For a comprehensive treatment of the topic, please refer to Joel Lester, Between Modes and Keys: German Theory, 1592-1802 (Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1989).

309 Tonal closure implies that a piece starts with a tonic note or chord considered the home key, and then concludes/ ends on that same tonic.

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brackets indicate a diminished chord, and G5 denotes an open fifth starting from the note G as in

a bicinium.

*Ach wir armen Sünder

Opening harmonies

V.1 D – B min – [c#°] – D

Closing harmonies

F# min – A – D

V.2 D– B min – [c#°] – D A – D

V.3 A [single voice] (CF) D – A

*Es ist das Heil uns kommen her

Opening harmonies / intervals

V.1 D – B min – B min - F

Closing harmonies / Chord

C – F – C

V. 2 C5 Bb – D min – C

V.3 G5 C

V.4 G8 C

V. 5 G4 C

V.6 G5 F – C

V. 7 C C

Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (I)

Opening harmonies / interval

V.1 G


C – G

V.2 G5 G

V.3 D5 G

V.4 G G

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Komm, heiliger Geist, Herre Gott


V.1 G – C – D – G – D


G

V.2 G [single voice CF] G

V.3 D G

*Magnificat II. Toni


V.1 F – G – C min – F


C min – G

V2. F G

V3. F - Bb G

V4. F G

Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein


V.1 G


G

V.2 C5 G

V.3 G G

*O lux beata Trinitas

Opening harmonies / intervals

V.1 D5


G

V. 2 D G

V.3 E - A min – F – C G

V.4 D5 G

V. 5 [E] – A min – E min G

V.6 A min G

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Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet


V.1 G


G

V.2 D G

V.3 G X* [fragment – piece does not conclude]

4.3.2 Roman Numeral Analysis

To gain a better grasp of Weckmann's harmonic language, I analyzed the harmony in two ways.

As the first avenue of harmonic exploration, I completed Roman Numeral Analysis for various

excerpts, noting that some passages seemed more tonally oriented than others. There are a few

examples in Weckmann’s Chorale-based Works where a stream of Roman Numerals make

sense, and they show a logical syntax within a given key, as would be expected in the tonal realm

of major / minor key systems. According to Menke, keys are indeed beginning to emerge at and

around about 1650.310 Weckmann’s music is a beautiful example of being situated in the middle

of this transition from modality to tonality, and so elements of both are found in his music.

It is perhaps no accident that the two relatively normal scenarios exhibited in Figures 46 and 47

(on the next page) for Roman Numerals take place in pieces that are both in the

Hypo-Mixolydian and Hypo-Ionian modes, the modes that most smoothly morphed into the

eventual G major and C major keys.311 Two particularly tonal passages are shown below, which

each demonstrate a clear tonic, as well as predominant and dominant areas marked by a V – I

cadence at the end. Figure 46 shows the final measures of the second verse of Nun freut euch,

lieben Christen g'mein, mm. 41 – 45:

310 See Menke, Kontrapunkt II, 23.

311 See Menke, Kontrapunkt II, 51.

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Figure 46: Roman Numerals in Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein, Verse 2

and in 2) Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (I) verse 1 mm. 22 – 25:

Figure 47: Roman Numeral Analysis in Verse 1 of Gelobet seist, du Jesu Christ (I)312

There are other examples within the Weckmann oeuvre on the modal end of the spectrum,

however, where using Roman Numerals become dubious when describing what is happening

harmonically, or when using Roman Numeral Analysis lead to syntactical progressions that are

atypical of the tonal realm. The most confusing Roman Numeral Analysis streams are shown in

the following two examples. Both excerpts are taken from the monumental and polyphonically

conceived chorale cycles, O lux Beata Trinitas and Es ist das Heil uns kommen her. In both

cases, the task of deciding in what “key” Weckmann begins, is ambiguous:

312 Although there is a V7 – I cadence in Figure 47 above, its strength is weakened by Weckmann’s diminution of the bass in 16th notes so that the bassizans clause is truncated rhythmically and the F# in the alto (last beat of m. 22) also truncates into a diminution of 16th notes, thus not resolving directly to G in the next measure.

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Figure 48: Contrapuntal Opening of Verse 1 of O lux Beata Trinitas

What appears to be a clear cadence in G seen from mm. 6 – 7 in Figure 48 above is slightly

misleading at first sight, as G major is not the tonality of the piece, but G is actually the finalis313

of the Hypomixolydian mode (in which the chant operates).314 Similarly, the opening verse of Es

ist das Heil uns kommen her is equally nebulous and tonally ambiguous, as the putative Roman

Numeral Analysis in Figure 49 shows:

Figure 49: Tonally Ambiguous Opening in Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, Verse 1

Situations also occur where for some parts of a piece the Roman Numeral Analysis works, and

for other sections some "keys" are either short-lived or ambiguous.315 This demonstrates a

313 Finalis, Italian term for the final note of a mode, which is not quite equivalent to a tonic of a major / minor scale.

314 See Johannes Menke, Kontrapunkt I: Die Musik der Renaissance (Laaber: Laaber, 2015), 42; and Part 2 of this Chapter on Cadences for more information on modality and cadences in this piece.

315 "Modulation” as such is not yet a suitable term to describe what is happening between key areas.

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fascinating overlap between modality and the presence / emergence of tonality within one work.

A good example to demonstrate the latter case is in the Magnificat II. Toni verse 1, which is

largely conceived in the Stile Antico with many syncopatio figures (it is both modal — beginning

on a different note than the piece ends on — and it contains a dense polyphonic texture).

To demonstrate how viable Roman Numeral streams operate in different keys at different times,

we will study verse 1 of Magnificat II. Toni, given as an excerpt in Figure 50 on page 123.

Please refer to this excerpt in which the CF's first note is F, its last note is G, and the reciting

tone / repercussa is Bb. The harmony seems to migrate from one of those keys to another,

sometimes clearly and sometimes with ambiguity. I provide Roman Numeral Analysis in all

three keys throughout, each time highlighting the analysis in the key that seems most preferable.

Phrase 1 of the chant begins in F and is labelled accordingly with Roman Numerals. However,

the music is just a few notes in, and sure enough — an applied dominant to minor v in the middle

of m.2 already undermines the notion of F major as tonal center. The passage leads to a section

that looks to be — for a while at least, in B-flat — although the progression I – vi – I spanning

mm. 3 – 5 is not particularly common in tonal grammar.

By the middle of phrase 1, the music seems to be going towards g minor (mm. 7 – 9), but then

turns out that the music does not go to g minor. In m. 10 there is a sudden shift — seemingly

back in F — but this is short-lived as well, as B-flat triumphantly steps in once more as the

chant's reciting tone. B-flat thus governs the harmonic outline for a while. However, not even

B-flat works perfectly as a key center, as seen when the strange [V6] ii – vi progression in m. 15

appears. Lonely F major that began the verse seems desperately to want to have a say again

during the last few measures, but the final (G) wins out instead, displaying the only progressions

at that point of the piece that make some sense in that "tonality".

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Figure 50: Magnificat II. Toni, Shown with Three Different Streams of RNs

4.3.3 Root Motions

As an alternative to Roman Numeral Analysis, I have also studied Weckmann’s harmony by

examining root motions and the triad types that articulate them. I analyzed both the Free Works

and the Chorale-based Works, and from the raw data analysis subsequently created a series of

Root Motion Graphs (RMGs), with which to display the chord progressions.

4.3.3.1 Method

Following Murphy (2013) I study triad types and root motions, creating a series of Chord

Progression Types, hereafter abbreviated as CPTs. For example, the progression D-major to

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f#-minor articulates what I designate as M3↑Mm, namely an ascending major third root motion

(M3↑) which goes from major (M) to minor (m) triad.316

I label the triads in all the selected Weckmann pieces systematically, and then examine these in

terms of their root motions. Minor triads are designated with a lower-case letter representing the

root note (e.g. e-minor = e) while major triads are designated with an upper-case letter (C major

= C). The root motion parameter is determined both by chord quality and interval direction from

one triad moving to a consecutive triad. It is important, however, to note that these root motions

are based on the primary harmonic rhythm in the piece, and usually skips over weak-beat

harmonies that might be stated or suggested. When there are only two different notes spread

across three voices, for example “C E E”, I chose the diatonic triad and made the choice based

upon context.

For example, assume that if the piece is in C (4/4 time), then with every second semibreve (half

note) a chord change is typically noted.317 To illustrate this as an example, the process can be

seen in action by following along in the following excerpt taken from the opening of

Weckmann's Magnificat II toni, verse 1. The process for labelling root motions or chord

progression types (CPTs) proceeds as follows, reading every half note pulse from left to right:

316 I modified the terminology used in Murphy and created my own. For example, Murphy describes a root motion from a D-major triad to an f#-minor triad as M4m (i.e. major triad transformed onto minor triad by counting 4 semitones up between their respective roots).

317 This also follows from a quote attributed to Weckmann that can be found in the original manuscript of the Sweelinck Compositions-Regeln treatise, where it says that "every second semibreve something should move – MW".

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Figure 51: Sample CPT Root Motion, with Explanation

F to F = perfect unison from a Major triad to a Major triad, i.e. p1MM

F to G = up a major second from Major to Major triad, i.e. M2↑MM

G to c = up p4 Major to minor p4↑Mm

c to F = up p4 minor to Major p4↑mM

F to Bb = up p4 Major to Major p4↑MM

Bb to g = down minor third Major to minor m3↓Mm

g to g = p1mm

g to Bb = up minor third minor to Major m3↑mM

Bb to Bb = p1MM

Bb to Eb = up p4 Major to Major p4↑MM and so forth.

The 7 x 8 matrix for the six-measure excerpt above is completed systemically by tallying all

CPTs until reaching the end of the piece, and assigning total count to its appropriate column or

row:

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↑MM mm Mm mM ↓MM mm Mm mM

m2

M2 1

m3 1 1

M3

p4 2 1 1

aug4

p1 2 1

Table 13: Matrix of CPTs

These three parameters govern the matrix:

1) the size of the interval of the root motion (there are 7 possibilities when including p1)

2) the direction of the motion, up or down (2 possibilities)

3) the chord quality type (4 possibilities)

Some of the underlying assumptions that were made during analyses include the following. All

seventh-chords were turned into triads, and diminished chords were not included in the analysis

by writing N/A beside the applicable progression.318 Whenever there was a consistently faster

harmonic rhythm intensification in the piece (for example at cadential points), faster chord

changes were noted. Over long final pedal points representing one harmony, no harmonic change

was noted. Only 3-voice textures or more were considered in the analysis, to stay consistent with

the triadic approach of the theory. Assume as well for the purposes of the experiment that we are

in a temperament-less vacuum, where the size of the intervals is not variable due to any

compound interference frequency (Hz) size; and both intervals and chord progressions can be

thus treated as being on equal footing, despite temperament influence.

318 The number of diminished chords occurring in the grand scheme of things was also relatively small, and so may be considered negligible within the sample set.

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The total number of each root motion type is tallied, and subsequently a graph is made for each

piece to show the frequencies and distributions of the root motions. All data was then added

together to create the Summation Chart for both the Chorale-based Works and the Free Works

together. After doing several of these RMGs, some trends started to emerge.

4.3.3.2 Results and Data

All the progressions were charted on Figure 52, and matched up with their frequency. Figure 52

visually depicts CPTs and the frequency of the progressions occur within the studied sample size

of selected Weckmann organ music. The diagram shows these possible CPTs as simplified chord

progressions, without non-harmonic tones, and the total number of times they occur within the

dataset analyzed. Dissonances and passing notes that happen on beats which were not factored

into the analysis (usually the weaker beats of the bar) do not appear in the results below. The

overwhelming majority of progressions belong to the diatonic collection of chords, while a few

progressions form part of a harmonic minor collection.

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Figure 52: Weckmann CPTs in Staff Notation

4.3.3.3 Conclusions

The final summation chart of RMGs (Figure 53 on p.131) shows the complete sample set of data

analyzed added together (Free Works + Chorale-based Works). The chart does not display the

context for the CPTs, but their relative frequency distributions. The Summation Chart

(Figure 53) is a graph of totals that shows the overall frequency and distribution of root motions

happening across all pieces studied in the Weckmann organ oeuvre.

Please refer to the Summation chart in Figure 53 on page 131. The chart has been set up to read

as follows: there is a row going from the front right corner towards the left, showing all the

minor 2nd root motions in dark blue stacked columns. On the horizontal x axis, there are eight

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possibilities for chord quality type (Major or minor and its permutations in either direction

= 2 x 2 x 2 = 8 possibilities). The vertical y axis shows the frequency (number of root motions

per column). Reading from the front right corner towards the back of the graph, I list every type

of interval by which the root motions are measured. For example, the first row shows all the

minor 2nd (m2) motions. Directly behind the minor second motions is the row showing all the

major 2nd (M2) motions in red, then all the minor third (m3) motions in green, and so on. The

very last row at the back of the chart labelled p1 shows modal mixture, with a change in chord

quality from Major to minor, or vice versa, over a stationary root.

Most notably, the chord progression type (CPT) p4↑MM dominates in the sample set overall,

with a total of 391 instances. Its directional opposite, p4↓MM appears slightly more than half as

much at 255 times. It seems then, that in Weckmann's music, there may be many root motions

that revolve around a central p4 axis, about the Major-Major tonal space. Whether this has

bearing upon the fact that most of the Chorale-based Works are in the Hypo-Mixolydian and

Hypo-Ionian modes, is still unclear to confirm with certainty at this point.

In third place, the M2↑Mm features prominently, at 151 instances. Thereafter the CPT frequency

distribution begins to even out, and these numbers become closer to each other. Another p4

phenomenon with chord quality change shows that p4↑Mm takes fourth place (121) among the

previous CPTs mentioned. These two CPTs show a relatively large frequency distribution about

the Major-minor chord quality axis for ascending intervals of both M2 and p4.

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Figure 53: Final Summation Chart of RMGs

When hypothetically heading in the complete opposite direction of travel, namely in the

"descending root motion camp", the m3↓Mm can be found to occur in 110 instances, followed

closely by the M2↓mM (108). The p4, M2 and m3 intervals therefore feature in both directions

and with differing chord quality iterations. The p4↑mM and m3↑mM numbers are very close at

97 and 92 instances, respectively.

By comparison, however, very little M3 root motion occurs overall (except for M3↓mM). The

sole aug4↑Mm is an anomaly / outlier causing some bizarre melodic effects in the chorale cycle

(Es ist das Heil uns kommen her), which cannot easily be explained other than by considering

possible symbolic significance/ meaning of the text in that piece. The rarer m2↑MM and

m2↑mM add interesting considerations into the tonal mix, and the general sense is that, simply

because they occur infrequently, does not necessarily mean that these CPTs are less significant.

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Interestingly, when considering the big picture, modal mixture p1Mm and p1mM also occur

rarely compared to the other CPTs. Many of the root motions in the dataset can be seen to form a

part of a diatonic collection of notes (refer to Figure 52 p. 129). When considering the

Summation Chart containing all of Weckmann's root motions, it is noteworthy that some of these

chord progressions fit into a harmonic minor system e.g. c minor to G major p4↓mM, and

moreover several passages simply do not fit into such a diatonic classification e.g. c minor to

f-sharp minor aug4↑mm.

Root Motion Graphs for the Free Works and the Chorale-based Works were then created

separately for each piece, to examine whether there are any other trends to take note of. The most

notable trend difference found was that p4↑Mm is most abundant in the Free Works, as opposed

to p4↑MM in the Chorale-Based Works. In the Free Works, a few more instances of mixture

happen (p1 Mm and p1mM) when compared to the very few observed in the Chorale-based

Works. In contrast to that, aug4 motions never happen in the Free Works, unlike in the Chorale-

based works, where the jarring aug4↑Mm is displayed in Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, for

example.

The overwhelming conclusion of this study is the fact that Weckmann’s organ music is both

tonal and modal, and therefore provides an interesting case study for the processes of modality

transitioning into tonality during the 17th century.

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Figure 54: RMGs for the Free Works

Figure 55: RMGs for the Chorale-based Works

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4.3.3.4 RMGs in Individual Pieces

Small variations in the Root Motion Graphs can be seen when examining individual verses for

each piece. When comparing each of the three verses individually of

Komm, heiliger Geist for example, the Root Motion Graphs depict each verse as having a

slightly different harmonic profile, especially with regards to the third verse.

Verse 1 shows p4↑MM being most abundant (as we would expect to find), while Verse 2 shows

p4↓MM in highest numbers; Verse 3 by contrast interestingly has instead M2↑Mm as its most

abundant CPT, narrowly overtaking the p4 camp. Furthermore, Verse 1 has almost no ↓M3

movements, whereas Verse 2 contains six counts of M3↓mM. Verse 1 has only a few instances

of m3, whereas Verse 2 contains eight counts of m3↑mM and Verse 3 shows five instances of

m3↑mM.

A potential future study could be to conduct an experiment in 5' comma mean-tone temperament

to determine which chords exist further or closer in harmonic distance from one another. For

example, the rare (for mean-tone temperament) B-major chord occurring within a G major

context in Verse 1 of Komm, heiliger Geist hints at a harmonic sonority which is far removed

from the original modal context. That anomalous and striking B-major sonority strongly

highlights the corresponding verse text “ignite Your fervent Love in him (your servant)”. For a

visual representation of these CPT distributions, see the three graphs for each individual verse of

Komm, heiliger Geist:

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Figure 56: Verse 1 of Komm, heiliger Geist: Expected p4↑MM Abundance

Figure 57: Verse 2with p4↓MM Abundance

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Figure 58: Verse 3: Anomalous M2↑Mm Abundance

4.3.3.5 RMGs of Each Chorale-based Work Analyzed

The RMG charts in this section show how the variance of CPTs differs across the individual

pieces. The previously identified overall trend of p4↑MM being the most abundant CPT

remains universal for all the Chorale-based Works (except in O lux beata Trinitas, verse 1).

Slightly different trends were found, however, when examining the charts with respect to other

kinds of interval and chord quality transformations.

For example, Komm Heiliger Geist and Nun freut euch lieben Christen g'mein both tend to

emphasize M3↑Mm and M3↓mM CPTs more than the Magnificat II Toni shows. Note, as well

that, while the first verse of O lux Beata Trinitas contains an unusually high number of p1mm

compared to Es ist das Heil verse 1, this suggests that first verse distribution of p1 is not

necessarily uniform, nor to be discounted from the sample set. Ach wir armen Sünder contains

high levels of m3 in both directions, and in general we observe a more even distribution of root

motions of several different types. Please refer to the Appendix for RMGs of all the individual

pieces.

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4.3.4 Issues Found and Recommendations for Further Research

Future research in this domain first and foremost could improve the findings of the dataset for

the Weckmann pieces analyzed in the present study by increasing the sample size, especially for

the Free Works, by including comparison of analysis of the Canzonas contained in KN 147. It

would also be good to analyze the pieces of questionable authenticity (Toccatas in the same

collection) using a similar method, to determine whether there are any trends that appear and

compare results. Thereafter, a more detailed analysis needs to be performed, to compare specific

syntaxes of voice-leading motions, and considering parameters of mode, as well as dissonance

treatment.

4.3.5 Examining “Ach wir armen Sünder” as a Questionable Weckmann Piece

The RMG for Ach wir armen Sünder shows some differences in frequency distribution in terms

of more evenly-spread CPTs, but when compared to the Summation Chart (Figure 53) the

differences are perhaps too small in order to make a precise determination for a confirmation or

refutation of authorship status. There are, however, several anomalous aspects of the piece. For

example, in no other Chorale-based work does Weckmann begin completely homophonically;

the second verse contains double pedal strangely only at the end when decorating a cadence

(invariably, Weckmann uses double pedal technique throughout in the outer verses, and in verse

6 of Es ist das Heil in a much more extensive manner). Furthermore, the textures and

accompaniment figures are considerably simpler compared to Weckmann's other Chorale-based

Works, and Ach wir armen Sünder is the only Chorale-based Work in the collection originally

copied in modern staff notation, instead of tablature. It is also the only work that was passed

down in a later manuscript source known to date. It strikes me as strange, as well, to have two

verses that are designated as “Auff 2 clavir” following immediately upon each other — as

nowhere else in the Weckmann oeuvre does this feature occur. Could it be that there are more

verses in this piece that were never written down, especially considering that the third verse ends

on an A major chord in the context of a D major tonality, and that the hymn text passed down in

later hymnals contains six to seven verses of text? Note that the chant corresponding to “Kyrie

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Eleison” does not end on V, so the end of this last verse is not behaving in the same way as in

the other chant-based Chorale-based works, where the tonality/modality follows the chant note.

However, none of these anomalous aspects taken in and of themselves can absolutely refute the

authorship attributed to Weckmann. It could well be that Weckmann was experimenting

stylistically in this case. The anomalous characteristics taken as a whole, however, do cast doubt

upon the authorship. More statistical data is needed to make an accurate stylistic analysis, as well

as a comparison with broader analytical observations, in order to come to a sufficient conclusion.

Figure 59: RMG for Ach wir Armen Sünder

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4.3.6 Application of Both Theories

The result of this study has led me to the conclusion that Weckmann incorporates both aspects of

modality, and shows aspects of tonality, in his organ works. Weckmann is therefore a fascinating

composer to study when it comes to investigating the bridge between modality and tonality in the

17th century. By applying both theories (CPT theory and RN analysis) to the following

randomly-selected sample excerpt, it becomes clear that sometimes one scenario is preferable to

another, but that one or the other is active at some point to a greater or lesser degree: sometimes

both theories work well, and sometimes one clearly works better than the other. Below is an

example of where Roman Numerals work well in Komm, heiliger Geist, verse 1:

Figure 60: Roman Numerals in Verse 1 of Komm, heiliger Geist

Next, compare the example in Figure 60 with Figure 61, where I apply CPT theory to the same

excerpt (read the progressions in tandem with the score; start on the left-hand side going down,

then across to the right-hand side, and down):

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Figure 61: CPT Theory in Komm, heiliger Geist

[G] to C = p4↑MM D to G = p4↑MM

C to G = p4↓MM G to A = M2↑MM

G to D = p4↓MM A to D = p4↑MM

When comparing the two examples above, both theories are possible — and we see the overall

trend of p4↑MM being most abundant confirmed. However, the RNA in Figure 60 is a more

plausible analysis compared to CPT analysis in Figure 61, because seventh chords are discarded

from the analysis in the CPT theory (thus skipping entirely over the D7 chord on beat 4 of

measure 1). Passing notes that occur in between the analyzed beats are also lost in the CPT

analysis. Another challenge with CPT theory is the “missing” first beat of m. 1, or whenever

fewer than 3 voices are found in a texture: for example, in m. 1 there is only one note — the

soprano D — while the other voices rest. According to the theory, the first beat counts as a

strong beat in the analysis, but we cannot technically assign a chord to only one note; however,

we know that clearly it becomes a G chord on the second beat, but we arrive at that conclusion

only because we have seen the entire measure, and so in actuality we should assign a G chord to

beat 1, because we know beat 2 is the G chord we are expecting to hear (and do hear).

Another potential issue of CPT theory arises when only isolating beat 1 of measure 4, for

example. Doing so makes it possible (but not accurate) to read a momentary b minor sonority on

the first 16th note; however, from the context we clearly see that is a D major chord in measure 4

(albeit with smaller rhythmic value passing notes on top); therefore, according to the strict

application of the CPT theory, it could potentially lead to momentary ambiguous, incomplete, or

even inaccurate readings when deciding on taking a consistent half-note reading across the

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board, as for example a computer might do when programmed that way according to set

conditions.

This finding has implications for programming AI and Big Data in music analysis, as it points to

the absolute necessity of the awareness of complete chordal context, as well as the ability to

make wise and informed decisions in regard to context considerations, as opposed to seeing

isolated beats within a measure, and then assigning a chord and root motion to these. In this

case, Roman Numeral analysis gives a more complete analytical picture, and we can consider

voice-leadings in conjunction with the CF melody to decide where to place the emphasis as

performers. For purposes of constructing a new performance edition, however, the measures with

difficulty have been identified through performance and possible solutions identified using a

combination of experience and thorough contrapuntal knowledge.

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Chapter 5 Manuscripts and Editions

Manuscripts and Editions

Compared to facsimiles and original manuscript sources, modern editions are significantly relied

upon as primary materials by modern performers, and thus editions and editorial practices

profoundly shape ideas and interpretations of a composer’s oeuvre (and in some cases, even

ideas about the composers themselves). With this in mind, the present chapter surveys both

modern editions currently available to performers and scholars, the original manuscripts

containing Weckmann's organ music, and finally the reasons for the dearth of new publications

of Weckmann performance editions since the start of the 21st century.

The primary published editions of Weckmann's organ works are listed in Table 14 below, in

reverse chronological order:

Table 14: Modern Publications of Weckmann Organ Works

Free Works Chorale-Based Works

Matthias Weckmann Sämtliche Orgelwerke / Complete Organ Works 2, ed. Klaus Beckmann. Mainz: Schott, 2010.

Matthias Weckmann Sämtliche Orgelwerke / Complete Organ Works 1, ed. Klaus Beckmann. Mainz: Schott, 2010.

Matthias Weckmann Sämtliche Freie Orgel- und Clavierwerke, ed. Siegbert Rampe. Kassel: Bärenreiter BA 8189, 1991.

Matthias Weckmann Choral-Bearbeitungen für Orgel, ed. Werner Breig. Kassel: Bärenreiter BA 6211, 1979.

Matthias Weckmann: A Practical Edition of the Free Organ Works, ed. Hans Davidsson. Göteborg: Gehrmans Musikförlag, 1991.

Lüneburg, Ratsbücherei, Mus. Ant. Pract. KN 147 / Matthias Weckmann (also known as the Lüneburg Clavierbüchlein319) published by Alexander Silbiger. New York: Garland, 1988.320

319 Davidsson coined the term "Lüneburg Clavierbüchlein", in reaction to what he considered as dated terminology used first by Bärbel Roth namely "das Klavierbuch", 1991: 26. See Bärbel Roth, "Zur Echtheitsfrage der Matthias Weckmann zugeschriebene Klavierwerke ohne Cantus firmus," Acta musicologica, 36, no.1 (1964): 31 – 36.

320 Essentially this is not an edition, but a facsimile reprint of KN 147, published by Silbiger and assigning many of the pieces to Weckmann's name.

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Weckmann, Matthias, 1616?-1674. 14 Praeludien, Fugen und Toccaten. Lippstadt: Kistner & Siegel, 1940.

Weckmann, Matthias. 14 Praeludien, Fugen und Toccaten, ed. Max Seiffert. Organum IV no.3. Köln: Kistner & Siegel, 1925.

Weckmann, Matthias, 1616?-1674. 14 Preludes, Fugues And Toccatas. Melville, N.Y.: Belwin Mills, 1900.321

Table 14 above does not provide a comprehensive list of all modern publications containing

Weckmann's organ music, as notably at the start of the 20th century, it was not uncommon for

individual Weckmann pieces to be found published as part of a collection — or sometimes

within anthologies containing chorale preludes written by many different Baroque composers.322

It is striking to note that, as pertains to Weckmann’s Free Works, the tables of contents for each

edition published after 1940 differ in terms of the pieces attributed to him! In contrast, the

Chorale-based pieces appear less contentious, though to date only two publications represent

them in their entirety.323 Editions appearing later in the 20th century seem to strive towards a

more comprehensive attempt at defining the "Weckmann keyboard oeuvre"; as we will see,

however, such a definition is challenging, for reasons which will be discussed below.

5.1 Challenges of Authorship

Contemporary performers and scholars of Weckmann’s music are confronted with two main

problems in modern editions of his music. Firstly, the number of pieces that could be attributed

to Weckmann is comparatively small to begin with, and secondly among this small number of

works their unequivocal attribution to Weckmann has been strongly questioned and debated by

scholars.

321 It seems like this publication matches the Seiffert edition of 1925 in terms of the title being an exact translation.

322 Single Weckmann pieces like Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein, Ach wir armen Sünder and excerpts from Komm heiliger Geist and O lux Beata Trinitas have been published as part of larger organ music collections (for example The Church Organist's Golden Treasury; and Choralvorspiele Alten Meister (Straube, 1907).

323Davidsson adds some additional critical notes regarding the Chorale-based Works in his dissertation Appendix, but did not publish a completely new edition of these works, Matthias Weckmann, 26.

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Due in part to the small number of reasonably attributable Weckmann organ works (especially

Free Works) passed down in manuscripts, contemporary musicologists have likely tended to

over-reach in their efforts to include more works of questionable authenticity into the

"Weckmann keyboard oeuvre".324 Examining carefully the original arguments for attributing

these anonymous pieces to Weckmann, however, still shows a clear lack of evidence proving this

authorship unequivocally.325 The most famous authorship questions surrounding the collections

relate to the keyboard pieces contained in KN 147 (the so-called Lüneburg Clavierbüchlein ).

Not only are the scribe(s) anonymous, but Weckmann's characteristic M:W:M initials (or some

variant thereof) are not found in any of the piece titles. On the basis of this fact and other

arguments, Bärbel Roth questioned Weckmann as the author and scribe of KN 147. Silbiger, on

the other hand, made the case for Weckmann indeed being the scribe of some of the pieces in

KN 147 and also believes Weckmann to be the composer of several of the Free Works contained

therein.326

5.1.1 Challenges Emerging from Studies on the Weckmann Tablatures / Manuscripts

According to Davidsson, the first editors of the Weckmann tablatures were 19th- and early

20th-century musicologists Max Seiffert (1868 –1948), Richard Buchmayer (1856 – 1934) and

Gerhard Ilgner.327 Silbiger adds Lieselotte Krüger to this group.328 Davidsson also mentions that

324 See the Lüneburg Clavierbüchlein (KN 147 facsimile reprint) by Silbiger, and the edition by Hans Davidsson that includes the anonymous Praeludium a 5 Vocum amongst the Free Works.

325 The matter is discussed at length in Alexander Silbiger, "The Autographs of Matthias Weckmann: A Reevaluation," in Heinrich Schütz und die Musik in Dänemark zur Zeit Christians IV, Anne Ørbæk Jensen and Ole Kongsted eds. (Copenhagen: Engstrøm & Sødring, 1989), 117 – 45. Upon reading through all the arguments and comparing these with Davidsson (1991) and Roth (1964), questions of authorship still remain, however.

326 See Silbiger, “The Autographs of Matthias Weckmann”, 1989. Silbiger's assertion is further validated by earlier cataloguing work of German musicologist Friedrich Welter, supporting the notion that KN 147 could be a potential Weckmann source in "Katalog der Musikalien der Ratsbücherei Lüneburg" (1950). See Friedrich Welter, Katalog Der Musikalien Der Ratsbücherei Lüneburg: Mit Zahlreichen Notenbeispielen (Lippstadt: Kistner & Siegel, 1950), 35.

327 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 27. Ilgner also wrote an important first biography of Weckmann's life. See Gerhard Ilgner, Matthias Weckmann: Sein Leben und seine Werke (Wolfenbüttel-Berlin: Georg Kallmeyer, 1939).

328 Silbiger, “The Autographs”, 118.

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this first cohort of pioneering scholars329 (Seiffert, Buchmayer and Ilgner) all agreed that

"Weckmann composed as well as copied out a large part of the extant works discovered in

Lüneburg".330 Strangely, none of the scholars mention the manuscript copy made around the turn

of the century by Günther Kittler, the Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. mus. 22845, which contains all

but one of Weckmann’s Chorale-based Works.331

Subsequent generations of musicologists, in particular Riedel and Krummacher332 have

challenged some of the assertions of the earlier scholars.333 Davidsson (1991) claims that this

critical stance culminated in the work of Bärbel Roth334, who "rejected Weckmann both as the

author and copyist of KN 147".335 Silbiger and Davidsson challenged Roth's objection about

thirty years later. Indeed, the direction Weckmann musicology followed next was to pursue

comparative handwriting analysis, especially through the work of Ortgies.336 Although

329 Although the first pioneers that catalogued and published some of Weckmann's pieces had limited access at the time to all existing manuscripts, and to the knowledge and methods we have at our fingertips today, it is important to recognize their valuable contribution (in that they documented important initial information about sources of Weckmann's music, and other composers of this time). Furthermore, because some of these pioneer musicologists lived closer in time to the actual composers, they arguably had more knowledge and understanding of these works than they sometimes receive credit for (the kind of knowledge, which was second nature to them, including being passed down via oral tradition: knowledge, which unfortunately did not necessarily make it down to us "modern" scholars).

330 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 27. It is not clear at this stage what Liselotte Krüger's stance on this general consensus was.

331 Kittler also wrote a dissertation about the history of the German Protestant Organ Chorale, as well as including in its chapters the music of Weckmann, Tunder and other North German organists. See Günther Kittler, Geschichte des protestantischen Orgelchorals von seinen Anfängen bis zu den Lüneburger Orgeltabulaturbüchern (PhD Diss., Universität Greifswald, 1931).

332 Friedrich Wilhelm Riedel (1929 –) and Friedhelm Krummacher (1936 –), German musicologists.

333 Davidsson (1991) unfortunately does not elaborate on any particular critical stances taken by Krummacher or Riedel, besides noting that Riedel recommended it would be critical in the next stages of musicological methodology of that time to perform "comparative handwriting analysis".

334 Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate any information about Bärbel Roth, aside from her article "Zur Echtheitsfrage,” 1964.


336 Ibo Ortgies performed this handwriting analysis extensively and has published the results in an article; see Ibo Ortgies, "Ze 1: An Autograph by Matthias Weckmann?" in Proceedings of the Göteborg International Organ Academy 1994, ed. Sverker Jullander and Hans Davidsson (Göteborg: Göteborgs Universitet, 1995): 155 – 172.

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handwriting analysis has yielded some positive results, it has unfortunately not definitely

answered many of the more central questions around the style and compositional praxis of

Weckmann. Davidsson supports musicologists Silbiger and Ortgies in that handwriting analysis

would prove to be a key element in Weckmann manuscript identification. This methodology has

yielded some useful results in helping to confirm the autograph status337 of KN 207/21.

Despite successes in identifying certain elements, handwriting analysis as methodology applied

in isolation is unfortunately insufficient to make concrete conclusions about other questions

surrounding authorship (such as when considering anonymous pieces, for example). Sometimes

scribes left behind only scant evidence from which conclusions might be drawn about the

originality of a given composition, or how it might have been embellished, improvised upon, or

edited. Furthermore, as Davidsson states, inconsistencies can (and do) occur in the writing of the

Weckmann manuscripts, further complicated by the consideration that manuscripts were often

the product of several scribes.338

5.2 Important Weckmann Historical Manuscripts: Scribes and Collections

5.2.1 Autograph Sources

The only example of organ music written in Weckmann's own handwriting are two chorale

settings found in manuscript KN 207/21, based on the chorale Gelobet seist Du, Jesu Christ.

The score is dated "Anno 1667" and therefore chronologically coincides with Weckmann's

position of organist at St. Jacobi in Hamburg. The manuscript page contains an elaborate

337 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 29. To this point, Davidsson mentions in particular that "capital German letters were written with varying letter types, sometimes even within the same document and the same sentence….a browse through (Kladdenbücher) makes it clear that Weckmann's everyday style was even more varied, and that other writers also made some of the notations."

338 Ibid. A fascinating aspect about these early manuscripts is that they were often "exercises in collaboration", pointing to historical pedagogical value in collaborative efforts. Davidsson even suggests that the organist responsible for the Kirchenschreiber position did not necessarily perform this duty at all hours, neither did the organist always do all of the writing in the account books of the church. Some of these other collaborators may have included students of the organist, and often choir members were involved; Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 27.

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dedication in Weckmann's hand, namely "Ach Gott, hilfs und wende meinen thun [Sinn?] zum

Gutten Ende."339

Weckmann often included such fascinating insightful anecdotes and commentaries in his

autograph copies.340 When examining the photograph of the Lüneburg Tablature KN 207/21

score in the edition preface of Werner Breig, it is evident that the handwriting of this autograph

score is very neat, meticulous, and the calligraphy is elaborate yet controlled in comparison to

some of the other tablature scribes.341

There is one additional piece speculated to be a Weckmann autograph, which will be discussed

in the Anonymous Scribes section of this chapter. Another category of potential interest for

future scholars — though beyond the scope of this chapter — pertains to the works of other

composers copied in Weckmann's hand, such as the large KN 206 manuscript (containing vocal

works by mostly Italian and some German composers). Indeed, Weckmann kept a large library

of music of composers he admired and whose music he studied.342

5.2.2 The Wedemann Copies

A large percentage of pieces in collections that are attributed to Weckmann are preserved in what

is referred to by Davidsson as the "Wedemann copies", which are manuscripts containing pieces

by Weckmann that were likely written down in tablature by the organist Heinrich Baltzer

Wedemann (1646 – 1718).343 These copies are found in the manuscripts Lüneburg Ratsbücherei

KN 209 (containing several of the Chorale-based Works and the Fantasia ex D) and KN 207/15

339 Direct translation: Oh God, help and bring my doing/work/purpose to good completion. Davidsson offers a slightly different interpretation to the inscription, which he depicts in his dissertation, Matthias Weckmann, 104.

340 Silbiger, “The Autographs”, 120.

341 See Breig, Matthias Weckmann: Choralbearbeitungen, XIII. Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to see the original manuscript in person, due to travel restrictions of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

342 See Maus, Matthias Weckman.

343 Heinrich Baltzer Wedemann was the organist and Kirchenschreiber at the church of St. Nicolaihof near Lüneburg, but unfortunately little is known about him.

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(the Praeambulum Primi Toni a.5344 which has Weckmann's full name appearing on the

manuscript345; the manuscript also contains the anonymous Praeludium a 5 Vocum346).

Important information preserved in these manuscripts includes performance practice and

registration indications, although Davidsson acknowledges that the collection contains "many

errors".347 Interestingly, Davidsson also speculates on pedagogic reasons for the writing down of

tablatures, asserting that the intention may have been to create anthologies for study purposes,

rather than performance.348

5.2.3 The Kortkamp Copy

Another significant Weckmann piece that has been passed down with relatively few errors

(according to Davidsson) is the Magnificat II. Toni.349 The scribe is Johann Kortkamp,

Weckmann's student, mentioned on the title page of the manuscript which is also dated “14 July

1664, Hamburg”. Interestingly enough in his preface, Breig notes that the registration indications

found in KN 209 could have been written into those manuscript copies by Kortkamp, and

therefore links Kortkamp to the Wedemann copies discussed above.350

5.2.4 Anonymous Scribes

Numerous Weckmann pieces have been written down by one or more unnamed or anonymous

scribes. These works are Komm Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott (KN 207/20) and the Toccata ex D

(KN 207/22); both pieces are considered by Davidsson to have been composed by the same

344 Curtis Lasell named Heinrich Baltzer Wedemann as the copyist, Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 30.

345 Roth, "Zur Echtheitsfrage", 32.

346 This is an anonymous Prelude, which Davidsson thinks is a Weckmann piece, and published it as a part of his new Free Works edition, Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, Vol 2 (1991). I did not choose to analyze this piece as part of the Free Work collection in this study, however.


348 Ibid. One question would be why would Weckmann write an autograph piece like Gelobet seist Du down in tablature, if it were only meant for study purposes? If so, could he possibly have intended it for a student?


350 Breig, Matthias Weckmann Choralbearbeitungen, VIII.

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individual.351 Both pieces are written in German tablature; the presence of the M:W:M signature

shows Weckmann as the composer.352 Although Max Seiffert proposed the Toccata ex D as a

Weckmann autograph in the preface of his edition, modern scholars such as Davidsson have

questioned Seiffert's claim. For example, Davidsson argues (based on handwriting analysis) that

there is great disparity between the writing of Komm, heiliger Geist and Toccata ex D, and on

that basis the Toccata ex D therefore cannot be considered a true Weckmann autograph.353

Indeed, the handwriting of the scribe for Komm, heiliger Geist is more wayward, and uses

much larger letters, compared to the scribe in KN 209, or even compared to Weckmann’s

autograph KN 207/21.354

The Lüneburg Clavierbüchlein (KN 147) — though chiefly containing harpsichord pieces and

thus also beyond the scope of this dissertation — does merit mention in the context of the present

discussion. All the free keyboard pieces in KN 147 (Toccatas, Canzonas and Partitas) were

copied by at least two anonymous scribes. Significant complication results here from an

apparent lack of explicit reference to Weckmann in any of the piece titles, except by means of a

modern pencil marking indicating Weckmann's name in square brackets, which was likely added

at a later date.355

The pieces in KN 147, however, seem to have been officially accepted within the "Weckmann

keyboard oeuvre" with the publication and scholarship of musicologist Alexander Silbiger.356

According to Silbiger, a significant number of these pieces were both copied and composed by

Weckmann. Despite maintaining that many of the pieces are Weckmann's, Silbiger does concede



353 Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 29. Also note that Silbiger in “The Autographs” has mentioned that the person who copied Komm Heiliger Geist KN 207/20 also copied the first 14 pages of the cantata "Weine nicht".

354 See the photograph provided by Breig, Matthias Weckmann Choralbearbeitungen, XIV.

355 See the Lüneburg Clavierbüchlein (KN 147 facsimile reprint) by Alexander Silbiger; Alexander Silbiger and Matthias Weckmann, Lüneburg, Ratsbücherei, Mus. Ant. Pract. KN 147 (New York: Garland, 1988).

356 See the above facsimile edition of KN 147 published by Silbiger, as well as Silbiger, "The Autographs of Matthias Weckmann”, 136.

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that not all the Toccatas contained in KN 147 are by Weckmann. Scholarship to date indicates

slight discrepancies regarding which pieces in KN 147 may be considered actual Weckmann

pieces: Davidsson, for example, says that Weckmann only wrote 3 suites357 — not five, as

Silbiger's research claims.

Numerous factors challenged my decision of whether to consider the KN 147 collection as part

of Weckmann's Free organ works for the purposes of this dissertation. The ideal instrument for

most of the pieces in KN 147 is a harpsichord (arguably with a Lautenzug358 register) and so by

some criteria these works may not be considered idiomatic to the organ.359 Some of the

Toccatas and Canzonas can be (and are), however, performed successfully on the organ.360

Unfortunately, out of consideration for numerous unresolved questions around their authorship,

the free pieces contained in KN 147 have been excluded from the analysis in Chapter 4 of this

dissertation.

5.2.5 The Walther Copy

Brief mention must be made of the Chorale-based Work Ach wir armen Sünder ascribed to

Weckmann and copied by Johann Gottfried Walther on 6-line staff notation (and notably the

only Chorale-Based work by Weckmann known to us which is not passed down in tablature).

The work appears in the manuscript "Berlin Deutsche Staatsbibliothek Mus. ms. Bach P 802"


358 It is not yet known what builder of harpsichords (if any) Weckmann had access to either in Dresden or Hamburg.

359 See the article by Rob van der Hilst, "Een vergelijking van twee Weckman-bronnen: de halve waarheid van de ʻUrtext',” Mens en Melodie, vol.47 (1992). Davidsson also mentions the harpsichord idiom as selection criteria for his Weckmann recording, but even he could not quite resist the temptation of nevertheless including some Canzonas and Toccatas in his "Weckmann Organ Works" recording for organ. Davidsson, Matthias Weckmann, 26 states: "For the recording it was necessary to delineate what could be considered as the complete organ works of Matthias Weckmann. Only compositions that are regarded today as indisputable works were included; those which are primarily harpsichord pieces were excluded. Two exceptions were made…."

360 Please refer to the recordings of Wolfgang Zerer, Hans Davidsson, Bernard Foccroulle, and others.

139

and its authenticity to Weckmann has been disputed by Hedar and Apel.361 In the preceding

analysis chapter, I investigated whether or not additional stylistic evidence can be found to

support the claim that this work can indeed be regarded as a composition by Weckmann.

5.2.6 Questions Surrounding Other Works

5.2.6.1 Fuga ex D ped. Primi Toni

The Fuga ex D ped. Primi Toni preserved in Leipzig Musik-Bibliothek II, 51 No. 19 bears the

signature M.W.M. and is a Free Work written in German organ tablature. According to Roth, the

whole manuscript collection was started in 1646, but the fugue attributed to Weckmann belongs

to the second section of the collection compiled much later i.e. after 1695.362 While no scribe has

been identified, the presence of Weckmann's signature in the title is compelling. Pending further

clarification, it will be considered an anonymously copied work for the purposes of the present

discussion.

5.2.6.2 Jesus Christus unser Heiland

The magnificent piece in manuscript KN 209 titled Jesus Christus, unser Heiland [F.T.],

despite bearing the initials implying Franz Tunder as composer, is asserted by scholar Fritz

Dietrich to be actually by Weckmann.363

5.2.6.3 Zellerfeld

Ibo Ortgies has raised the question whether the manuscript Zellerfeld [Ze 1] could be considered

a Weckmann autograph364; Pieter Dirksen has opposed the theory, but to date has not provided

significant concrete evidence against it. In support of Ortgies' theory, however, Karin Nelson has

361 Breig mentions the authorship of this piece being disputed by scholars Josef Hedar and Willi Apel (who maintains the "unambiguously lyrical tenor of this composition – incidentally a particularly beautiful work - … indicates beyond any doubt a date, possibly even later than 1700…"), Matthias Weckmann Choralbearbeitungen, VII.


363 Fritz Dietrich, as quoted by Werner Breig, Matthias Weckmann Choralbearbeitungen, VII.

364 See Ibo Ortgies, “Matthias Weckman (1616-1674) und seine Autographe,” Concerto Magazine, no. 88, (November 1993): 30 – 31.

140

hypothesized in her doctoral dissertation that one of the anonymous Magnificats in Ze 1

(previously attributed to Scheidemann) could instead actually be by Weckmann.365

5.2.6.4 Praeludium a 5 Vocum

As previously mentioned, the Praeludium a 5 Vocum is considered a Weckmann composition

by Davidsson (even though it is written down by an anonymous scribe) in KN 207/15/54, but no

scholar has since investigated this claim.366

5.2.6.5 The Kittler Manuscript: Berlin Staatsbibliothek, Mus. ms 22845

In the course of this study, I came across a hitherto unmentioned manuscript containing several

Chorale-based organ works by Weckmann, copied in staff notation by hand during the 1900s by

Günther Kittler, who was once the librarian active in the library at Lüneburg, and who

incidentally also wrote his PhD dissertation about the history of the Protestant Organ-Chorale.367

Due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the dissertation was not accessible to me

at the time of writing as it has not yet been digitized. However, the staff at the Staatsbibliothek in

Berlin very kindly provided me the pioneer scanned pages of the Mus.ms 22845 as PDFs, which

I examined carefully.

The Kittler manuscript unfortunately does not yield any extra historical source documents

containing Weckmann’s Chorale-based Works beyond those already known to us in the

Lüneburg tablatures (KN 209 and KN 207). What is striking about the Kittler manuscript,

however, are the meticulous inclusions of all the registrational indications that were present in

the original tablatures, as well as the inscriptions by Weckmann in the autograph copy of

Gelobet seist Du, Jesu Christ. Kittler made his transcriptions from the Lüneburg tablatures, and

there are many sections where he would cross out an erroneous tablature reading in pencil and

add the correct one in pen. There is no preface to the manuscript, and no other information

indicated — except for a puzzling entry on page 52, where Kittler writes that Verse 1 of Komm,

365 Kind thanks to Ibo Ortgies for bringing this to my attention; personal email correspondence, 10 August 2019.


367 See Kittler, Geschichte des protestantischen Orgelchorals .

141

heiliger Geist was newly printed (flawed / corrupted) in Buchmayer, Heft 2.368 Kittler then does

not include the first verse of this piece, but proceeds by copying Verse 2 and 3 of

Komm, heiliger Geist. Unfortunately, I had no access to the Buchmayer copy Kittler refers to in

order to make a comparison; neither could I then make any deductions about potential reasons

why Kittler made the curious remark and then decided to completely omit the first verse of the

piece.

A further puzzling element is that Kittler only managed to copy a fragment (the first verse, as

well as the opening 9 measures of the second verse) of the Magnificat II. Toni. Pages 66 – 88 of

the manuscript have been left blank, so it is highly likely that Kittler was interrupted for some

reason and never finished the work. Ach wir armen Sünder is completely absent from this

collection, but the reasons for this omission are not evident. Kittler’s motivations for transcribing

Weckmann’s music from the tablatures into staff notation by hand are also unknown at this

point. It is no small feat to transcribe the tablature into staff notation, so the very act of Kittler

taking the trouble to do so is intriguing.

5.2.7 Recommendations for a New Performer’s Edition

It is strongly compelling that, among the entirety of the organ works under present discussion,

only the two settings amongst the Chorale-based Works namely Gelobet seist Du, Jesu Christ I

& II can unequivocally be considered true Weckmann autographs. All of the Free organ works

were copied by a range of other scribes (and, if we are to assume that Max Seiffert was wrong

about the Toccata ex D being a Weckmann autograph)369 similarly a large majority of the other

Chorale-based Works have also been copied by other scribes. Whereas most of these manuscript

copies do bear the signature M:W:M (or some variant thereof), they were most of the time not

written down in Weckmann's own hand. A similar issue plagues Buxtehude scholarship— with

the exception that, from Buxtehude, no single autograph organ score has yet surfaced to provide

368 “Der 1. Versus neugedruckt (fehlerhaft) in Buchmayer, Heft 2.” Mus.ms. 28845, page 52. My kind thanks to my colleague, Eva-Maria Hamberger, who confirmed the reading for me.

369 Considering the numerous authorship questions that have been raised as a whole, I am not confident at this stage that we ought to merely dismiss Seiffert's claim without further investigation.

142

any means for comparison. How fortunate indeed then, that at least one authentic Weckmann

organ autograph exists!

As extraordinary a composer as Weckmann is, the many questions surrounding the authorship

and identification of his music significantly challenge the attempt to compile a definitive,

complete integral collection of Weckmann's Organ Works. Moreover, as many of Weckmann's

organ works were elaborate improvisations, it is highly unlikely that all of these would have been

preserved in manuscript.

For a new performance edition, extreme care must be taken with these questions of attribution. It

is hoped that the analytical models which were shown in Chapter 4 may contribute towards

prudent and evidence-based inclusion/exclusion decisions. A new performance edition will also

benefit from comparison with a detailed examination of the original tablature sources.370

370 At this time, due to travel restrictions of COVID-19, I was unfortunately unable to travel to the Lüneburg Ratsbücherei in Germany in order to examine the original tablatures.

143

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Appendix A: RMG Charts

Figure 62: RMG of Gelobet Seist Du, Jesu Christ I

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Figure 63: RMG of Komm, heiliger Geist

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Figure 64: RMG of Magnificat II. Toni

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Figure 65: Nun freut Euch, lieben Christen g’mein

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Figure 66: RMG for Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, Verses 1 and 2371

371 Direction of the y-axis has been flipped in this chart only to visually highlight the anomalous presence of the a4 interval (orange column).

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Figure 67: RMG for Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet

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Figure 68: RMG for O lux beata Trinitas, Verse 1

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Figure 69: RMG for Ach wir armen Sünder