A leading organist and composer of the North German school, Scheidemann was a pupil of Sweelinck in Amsterdam. He returned to Hamburg, assuming his father’s position as organist at the Katharinenkirche, employment that continued for nearly 40 years until his death in 1663.
Organ Music
Scheidemann’s style, derived from Sweelinck’s synthesis of English virginalist style and elements drawn from Italy and Germany, is displayed in particular in his compositions based on chorales and in praeambula (preludes), which contain a contrapuntal, fugal element. Both represent an important achievement in the development of these forms.