Last week I played a pair of intabulations on seasonal motets by Heinrich Sheidemann. I first encountered these pieces way back in my student days, but only found a copy of the complete collection at Foyles when I was on a trip to London a couple of years ago.
I suspect that if most organists know Schiedemann at all, it is more for his short Preambulae, and possibly some of his chorale and Magnificat settings. The intabulations are a product of a practice that allowed the organist to riff on the ideas and structure of a choral piece before the singers began. Similar pieces were published by Gabrielli, although these were much shorter and ostensibly less interested in developing motific interest. Schiedemann's intabulations are an example of a relatively small genre whose roots lie in a practical need -- to give the choir their pitch -- but elaborated the vocal original. These pieces are based on motets by Scheidemann's contemporaries, so the organ pieces lie somewhere between being a transcription and an improvisatory prelude-fantasy.
The first of the pair is based on a relatively well-known piece by Hans Leo Hassler, Dixit Maria (click the title to hear the piece). I played this as the service prelude to the main service on the Fourth Sunday in Advent, where the liturgy was built around Marian themes.
The second is a rather extensive unfolding based on Orlando di Lasso's Angelus ad Pastores ait. This was the service prelude for Christmas Day. I love the way this pieces opens out and expands from the first note. It reminds me a bit of the opening music from Haydn's Creation, with that long single note at the opening of the prelude.
