playlist | from the Schneeberger Orgel- und Clavierbuch

The collection of manuscript music that is known today either as the ‘Schneeberger Clavierbuch’ or as the ‘Schneeberger Orgel- und Clavierbuch’ is a large three-part volume of keyboard works. It is housed in the Leipzig Municipal Library (D-LEm) at shelfmark Becker II. 6. 22. The manuscript’s last private owner was the Leipzig musician Carl Ferdinand Becker (1804–77) who gave the manuscript to the library in 1851. Quite how the manuscript came to be owned by Becker is not known.

It is the first section of this manuscript (43 pages) that is discussed here and for clarity I refer to it as Schneeberger: part 1. It is the work of Christian Umblaufft (1673–1757) the cantor of St Wolfgang’s church in Schneeberg (Saxony). It comprises 27 pieces of music by various central-German musicians working mainly in an area south of Leipzig during the late 17th century and the early 18th century. They are: David Heinrich Garthoff (?–1741) from Weissenfels; Gottfried Ernst Pestel [Bestel] (1654–1732) from Altenburg; Christian Pezold [Petzold] (1677–1733) from Dresden; Christian UmblaufftL from Schneeberg; Nicolaus Vetter (1666–1734) from Rudolstadt; Andreas Werckmeister (1645–1706) from Halberstadt; Christian Friedrich Witt (c.1660–1717) from Gotha.

Schneeberger: part 1 is one of only a handful of this period’s surviving  non-chorale-based German organ-music collections to originate outside the circle of J. S. Bach.  Also – and thus far – Schneeberg: part 1 contains Christian Umblaufft’s onl surviving keyboard works.

Christian Umblaufft was born in Bischofswerda (Saxony) the child of Christoph Umblaufft (n.d;  mother not identified) a cloth maker and town councillor. Christian’s first teacher was Bischoffswerda’s cantor Adolph Caschauer (fl. 1674–90). In 1684 Umblaufft took up a place at the St Thomas school in Leipzig under the tutelage of the cantor, Johann Schelle (1648–1701). From 1694 Umblaufft was enrolled at the local university and in 1696 was appointed to the post of cantor at St Wofgang Schneeberg where he remained for the rest of his life.

At some point Umblaufft passed Schneeberger: part 1 to Gottfried Linke (c.1695–1760) the Schneeberg church’s organist (1717-1760), possibly around 1719 after a disastrous fire in the town had destroyed all of Linke’s music. NB The second and third sections of D-LEm: Becker II. 6. 22. are the later work of Linke.

• Playlist : more tracks coming soon

Manuscript Index
1. Christian Umblaufft (1673–1757) : Praeludium ex C
2. Christian Umblaufft : Praeludium ex c
3. Christian Umblaufft : Praeludium ex e
4. Christian Umblaufft : Praeludium ex g
5. Christian Umblaufft : Praeludium ex f
6. Christian Umblaufft : Praeludium ex D
7. Andreas Werckmeister (1645–1706) : Canzon ex g
8. David Heinrich Garthoff (d. 1741) : Praeludium ex C
9. David Heinrich Garthoff : Praeludium ex c
10. David Heinrich Garthoff : Praeludium ex D
11. David Heinrich Garthoff : Praeludium ex d
12. David Heinrich Garthoff : Praeludium ex E
13. David Heinrich Garthoff : Praeludium ex F
14. Anonymus : Air (con variatione) ex c
15. Christian Pezold [Petzolt] (1677–1733) : Fuga ex d
16. Anonymus : Praeludium ex d
17. Nicolaus Vetter (1666–1734) : Fuga ex G
18. Gottfried Ernst Pestel (1654–1732) : Ciaccona ex C
19. Anonymus : Alia Ciaccona ex e
20. Anonymus : Ciaccona [‘en rondeau’] ex d
21. Gottfried Ernst Pestel : Partie ex g: i. Gigue; ii. Allemande; iii. Courante; iv. Gavotte; v. Sarabande.
22. Christian Friedrich Witt (c.1660–1717) : Canzona ex B
23. Christian Friedrich Witt : Ciaccona ex B

References and further reading
::: Composers :::
– ‘David Heinrich Garthoff‘ [in German]. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 17 September 2023.
– ‘Gottfied Ernst Pestel [Bestel]‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 12 Jamuary 2024.
– ‘Chrsitain Pezold [Petzold]‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 10 August 2023.
– ‘Nicolaus Vetter‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 10 August 2023.
– ‘Andreas Werckmeister‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 10 August 2023.
– ‘Christian Friedrich Witt‘. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 2 January 2024.

::: Context & sources :::
– Jam van Blezen. ‘Het tempo van de Franse barokdansen’ [The tempo of French Baroque dances] in Tempo in de achttiende eeuw, red. K. Vellekoop, Utrecht 1984 (Stimu), 7-25, 37-59. [Abstract in English: web] | [Full version in Durch: PDF]
– Colin Booth. Did Bach really mean that? Deceptive notation in Baroque keyboard music. (Wells : Soundboard, 2010)
– D-LEm Becker II.6.22. Sachsen digital. Online resource, accessed 5 August 2023.
– Wolfgang Eckhardt. ‘Mitteldeutsche Tastenmusik um 1700: Zu Geschichte und Repertoire der Sammelhandschrift II.6.22 der Leipziger Städtischen Bibliotheken-Musikbibliothek‘. Ständige Konferenz Mitteldeutsche Barockmusik in Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt und Thüringen: Jahrbuch, 2002 (2004), 290-304. Online resource, accessed 5 August 2023.
– Howard Ferguson. Keyboard interpretation from the 14th to the 19th century: an introduction (Oxford: OUP, 1975)
– Natalie Jenne. ‘On the Performance of Keyboard Allemandes‘. Bach, Vol. 10, No. 2 (April 1979), 13-30. Online resource, accessed 12 Janiuary 2024.
– Enrico Lange. ‘Vorwort’ in Das Schneeberger Orgel– und Clavierbuch um 1705. (Altenberg: Hans Jürgen Kamprad, 2020) 5.
– Michael Maul. ‘The Schneeberger Clavierbuch: history and repertoire’. Sleeve-notes in the CD Das Schneeberger Orgel- und Clavierbuch um 1705. Enrico Langer, organist. (Kassel: Querstand, 2018. ASIN: B07Q5CPRZV)
– Karl Wilhelm Mittag. Chronik der königlich sächsischen Stadt Bischofswerda (1861). Online resource, accessed 5 July 2023.
– St. Wolfgang’s Church, Schneeberg. Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 2 January 2024.
– Amy Zanrosso. ‘The Baffling Binary Gigue‘, La Scena Musicale. 1 February 2002. Online resource, accessed 12 January 2024.

Techincal Notes
– Edition. Das Schneeberger Orgel– und Clavierbuch um 1705. (Altenberg: Hans Jürgen Kamprad, 2020), edited by Enrico Langer.
– Temperament: Kirnberger II; pitch A=440
– Organ: Viscount Sonus 60
– Microphone: Zoom Q2N-4K
– Recordings: ©Andrew Pink (2023-2024). All rights reserved. Creative Commons licence: [Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International]
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