To the perfect instruments of Arnolt Schlick
Abstract
Arnolt Schlick was a Palatine organist, composer and organ expert of the Renaissance who is best known for Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten (1511), a treatise on building organs. In this work he presented a certain ideal of the organ seen from his own perspective. Schlick also published Tabulaturen etlicher Lobgesang (1512), a collection that enjoyed an imperial privilege and featured organ works of great originality of skill so much different from his Italian, French and Dutch contemporaries. Schlick demonstrates an even more bizarre technique in a later manuscript of compositions marking the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1520).
The article is an attempt to establish a relationship between Schlick's organ writing and the features of the instrument his works were written for. What instrument did the famous blind musician write for? Did he write for the ideal instrument he described in his treatise Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten? Was it the one he played until the end of his life after landing a lifetime contract with the Palatine court in 1509? The next aspect of the study, which may be of special interest to organists, focuses on the interpretation and execution of Schlick’s organ works.
The South German organ tradition, with its heyday in the Renaissance, is still little studied by Russian and international musicologists alike. Only a few 135 delightful church instruments have survived since that time. They usually feature original organ cases, while all other structural parts are dated later. No less rare is the organ music of that period which does not only spark an interest, but also creates a certain difficulty for researchers. The methodology of the study combines historical and cultural approaches as well as the tradition of studying ancient musical art based on historically informed performance. The research findings contribute to the development of musicology and may inform music performers.
Keywords: alternatim, Arnolt Schlick, Heidelberg, Gregorian chant, meantone temperament, organ pieces, organ tablature, Renaissance, Southern German organ building
For citation: Tabyisova F. W. To the Perfect Instruments of Arnolt Schlick [Electronic source]. In: Sovremennye problemy muzykoznaniya / Contemporary Musicology, 2020, No. 1, pp. 3–22. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.56620/2587-9731-2020-1-003-022
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.56620/2587-9731-2020-1-003-022
Copyright (c) 2020 Fedosia W. Tabyisova
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