12 Organ Intabulations | Volumes III

Among the organ tablatures of the early 17th century, the intabulations of motet-like figural music by the Hamburg organist Heinrich Scheidemann are particularly noteworthy.
In church services, it was expected that a motet, a type of figural music normally sung by the choir, would be performed at a certain point. The only choir in the city of Hamburg could usually only manage to perform at one of the four main churches. In all other church services, the organist had to take on the duty of playing the appropriate motet on the organ. The ability to transcribe vocal music for the organ was therefore essential for organists in Hamburg and was highly valued. In many cases, the transcriptions were taken over note for note. Occasionally, the organist would “compose” complex, ornate arrangements based on the vocal models. Heinrich Scheidemann is considered one of the most important organists of this genre.
This edition was created with the aim of adapting the unique intabulation structure to a modern keyboard range, thus
transposing the artistic arrangements into modern notation.