Jan Pieterzoon Sweelinck (1562-1621).

Biographical notes:

Born in the Netherlands, where he remained all his life, Sweelinck became one of the most influential keyboard and vocal composers of his generation. He was appointed to replace his father as organist of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, a post to which his son succeeded on Sweelinck’s death. In addition, his paternal grandfather and uncles were organists; thus, a Sweelinck musical dynasty, comparable with that of the Bach or Couperin families, held the post uninterrupted from 1564 through to 1652. During his life, Sweelinck never left the Low Countries, or went away from Amsterdam for more than a few days at a time, when his absences were almost exclusively in conjunction with his position at the Oude Kerk. The longest journey he made was in 1604 to Antwerp, where he purchased a harpsichord from the firm of Ruckers. He died in 1621, after 44 years service to the church, and was survived by six children, only one of whom was a musician. Apart from a few pieces for lute, almost all of Sweelinck’s instrumental output is for keyboard and these display a thorough knowledge of the mainstream musical styles prevalent at the time. His music is similar to that of the English virginalist school, in particular the music of Peter Philips and John Bull, both of whom were amongst his acquaintances.

1. Stylistic characteristics.

Style is marked by 2 different techniques:

i. Contrapuntal elaboration of thematic material
ii. Use of idiomatic figuration

As is the case with other composers, Sweelinck’s counterpoint is rooted in 16th-century vocal genres such as the motet or the madrigal. Devices found in Sweelinck’s own vocal works, such as free imitation, strict imitation, imitation by augmentation or diminution, or the combination of theme and countersubjects written in invertible counterpoint etc., also appear in his instrumental music. There is an element of melodic liberty, perhaps because of the absence of text, alongside frequently-occurring sequential passagework.

Unlike his counterpoint, Sweelinck’s figuration is of a purely instrumental origin, so its provenance is less easy to determine. There is an evident debt to the English virginalist school that is found in those works based on English models, notably the Paduana Lachrimae and thePavana Philipi. There is also the influence of Spanish and Italian composers (Antonio de Cabezon visited the Low Counties twice). However, the English influence appears to be the most important. He chose to adopt aspects of the English style, which can be seen clearly in contrast to his innate musical personality. It is not surprising, therefore, that Sweelinck modelled some of his works on specific English models. Of importance to this are the Paduana Lachrimae and the Pavan Phillipi.