Arnolt Schlick

Arnolt Schlick (July 18?,[1] c. 1455–1460 – after 1521) was a German organist, lutenist and composer of the Renaissance. He is grouped among the composers known as the Colorists. He was most probably born in Heidelberg and by 1482 established himself as court organist for the Electorate of the Palatinate. Highly regarded by his superiors and colleagues alike, Schlick played at important historical events, such as the election of Maximilian I as King of the Romans, and was widely sought after as organ consultant throughout his career. The last known references to him are from 1521; the circumstances of his death are unknown.

Schlick was blind for much of his life, possibly from birth. However, that did not stop him from publishing his work. He is best known for Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten (1511), the first German treatise on building and playing organs. This work, highly influential during the 16th century, was republished in 1869 and is regarded today as one of the most important books of its kind.[2] Schlick's surviving compositions include Tabulaturen etlicher lobgesang (1512), a collection of organ and lute music, and a few pieces in manuscript. The lute pieces—mostly settings of popular songs—are among the earliest published; but Schlick's organ music is even more historically important. It features sophisticated cantus firmus techniques, multiple truly independent lines (up to five—and, in one case, ten—voices), and extensive use of imitation. Thus, it predates the advances of Baroque music era by about a hundred years, making Schlick one of the most important composers in the history of keyboard music.

Early life

Records of Schlick's early life are sparse: he lived and worked at Heidelberg, which was almost completely destroyed during the War of the Grand Alliance, so almost no records survive from the time Schlick was born. Nevertheless, linguistic analysis of his writings has shown that Schlick was most likely from the area around Heidelberg,[4] and recent research showed that Schlick was most probably born into a family of a Heidelberg butcher, whose family name may have been Slicksupp. If Schlick's parents followed the contemporary German custom to name children after the saint on whose day they were born, Schlick must have been born on July 18, St. Arnold's day. As for the year of birth, since Schlick married in 1482 and described himself as "an old man" by 1520, he was probably born in 1455–60.[1] Schlick was blind for much of his life, and may have been born blind.

No documents survive concerning Schlick's apprenticeship. Johannes von Soest and an otherwise unknown "Petrus Organista de Oppenheim" could be his teachers, as could Conrad Paumann, if only for a brief time when he (possibly) visited Heidelberg in 1472.[5] The earliest mention of Schlick's place of employment is in his marriage contract: in 1482 he married Barbara Struplerin, a servant of Elector Philip's sons, and the contract lists him as a court organist. Schlick and his family lived in a house on the Burgweg, a path that led to the Heidelberg Castle (although by 1482 Schlick had already inherited his father's house in Heidelberg).

Career

Schlick was apparently held in very high regard by his superiors. By 1509 he was the highest-paid musician at the court with a salary almost twice higher than that of the next-highest musician, and comparable to the salary of the court treasurer.[7] Evidently, this position was already established by 1486, when Schlick performed at the election of Archduke Maximilian as King of the Romans at Frankfurt, on February 16 (Schlick may also have performed at Maximilian's coronation six weeks later).[8] It was at this election that Schlick must have first met Paul Hofhaimer. In 1489 or 1490 Schlick travelled to the Netherlands: he alludes to the journey in his preface to Tabulaturen etlicher lobgesang, but his reasons remain obscure. Recent scholarship unearthed evidence of payments to other Electorate of the Palatinate musicians, made by Utrecht authorities, and although no mention of the court travelling to Utrecht in 1489–1490 has been found, it is entirely possible that it did happen. An older version of Schlick's motives was that he went to the Low Countries to escape from the plague which was then ravaging the Heidelberg area.[9]

In October 1503 Philip I of Castile visited Heidelberg, bringing with him a large enoutrage that included the composers Pierre de la Rue and Alexander Agricola, and organist Henry Bredemers. Schlick almost certainly met them, and probably played the organ at the performance of the Mass that took place during Philip's visit.[10] The next known contemporary report that mentions Schlick is from February 23, 1511, when he played at the wedding of Louis V, Elector Palatine and Sibylle of Bavaria. Nothing certain is known about Schlick's other performances. We know that he was present at one the diets at Worms, either in 1509 or at the famous diet of 1495. The presence of an unnamed Heidelberg court lutenist in Basel in 1509 is documented, and as Schlick was an accomplished lutenist, it may have been him.[11] In 1516, Schlick visited Torgau for unknown reasons; he may have played the organ there, and must have met Hofaimer again, since the latter was court organist at Torgau at the time.

The year 1511 saw publication of Schlick's organ treatise, Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten ("Mirror of Organ Builders and Organists"). The book was published in Speyer; it is the first known German treatise on organ building and performance, and was apparently very influential in Germany.[13] Also in 1511, Schlick's son Arnolt the Younger pleaded to his father to publish at least some of his music; the father complied and published Tabulaturen etlicher lobgesang und lidlein uff die orgeln un lauten ("Tablatures of [Several] Canticles and Songs for Organ and Lute") the next year, a collection of organ and lute music. A few of the biographical details are found in the preface to the latter work (which consists of Arnolt the Younger's letter to his father) and Schlick's reply. Schlick writes, for instance, about his journey to the Low Countries, and about the row he had with Sebastian Virdung in either 1495 or 1509. Schlick apparently met Virdung in Worms in 1495 or 1509 and helped him in some way. Some years later, in his treatise Musica getutscht (1511) Virdung ridiculed Schlick's adherence to the view that the black keys should be considered musica ficta, and made rude remarks about the composer's blindness. In the preface to Tabulaturen etlicher lobgesang Schlick retorts with mentions of Virdung's numerous mistakes in the musical examples from Musica getutscht, and condemns Virdung's ingratitude.[14][15] Schlick also mentions his plans to publish another book of music, but no trace of such publication is known.[16]

Throughout his life, Schlick was in high demand as an organ consultant. The earliest record of his activity in this field is from 1491, when he inspected the instrument of the Strasbourg Cathedral. Twelve more reports survive about such trips: among others, Schlick passed judgements on organs at St. George's Church, Haguenau, Speyer Cathedral, and Stiftskirche, Neustadt an der Weinstraße.[17] The last reference to Schlick is from 1521, when he examined an organ at St. George, Haguenau. This job was apparently carried out during December 1520–January 1521, and a letter survives from about the same time, from Schlick to Bernardo Clesio, Bishop of Trent; Schlick sent Clesio two sets of chorale settings. After this, Schlick disappears from history. In 1524 another organist was employed in his place.