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Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was organist of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam for more than forty years, in the employ of the city. Because Calvinist worship had no organ playing, he played for the people of Amsterdam before and after the services, and students from Germany travelled specially to study with him. In his variations on the song Mein junges Leben hat ein End he embellishes a simple melody ever more richly. Through students such as Samuel Scheidt and Heinrich Scheidemann, a line runs on to Buxtehude and Bach.
Listening
Listening tip. Listen to Mein junges Leben hat ein End and first hear the bare melody; then count how the ornaments around it grow busier and busier.
Mein junges Leben hat ein End (Ton Koopman) · Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, 1610
Fantasia chromatica (Helmut Walcha) · Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, 1610
Psalm 148 (Nederlands Kamerkoor, Ton Koopman) · Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, 1621