Scheidt, Canzon Bergamasca
One often finds Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654) closely associated with Heinrich Schütz (whose music we featured last week). He was born and spent most of his career in the German city of Halle, not far from Schütz’s home of Weissenfels.
Schütz and Scheidt, however, are merely two members of a famous trio of early German Baroque composers that also includes Johann Schein (1586-1630). The three were all born within two years of each other and knew each other. Scheidt was named godfather to Schein’s daughter.
Scheidt was appointed court organist in the service of Margrave Christian Wilhelm of Brandenburg. Both he and Schütz provided special music for the baptism of Christian Wilhelm’s daughter in 1618. In 1620, he was also named Kappellmeister in addition to his duties as court organist.
As with Schütz, Scheidt’s career suffered significantly from the effects of the Thirty Years War. Halle changed hands several times during the course of the war and lost half of its population. Scheidt stayed in Halle despite periods of unemployment. Compounding the tragedies of war, the plague swept through Halle in 1636, claiming the lives of his four children within the span of a month.
Of the three composers, Scheidt was the only one who had significant standing as an instrumental performer (organist).
A Bergamasca (Bergamask) is a peasant dance from the Italian city of Bergamo commonly associated with clowns and buffoonery. While the term appears in the titles of music from various eras (such as Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque), it is used rather indiscriminately.