Paul Siefert

Paul Siefert (1586-1666) was a Polish organist and composer. He was a student of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck.

Life

Siefert was born on 28 June, 1586. After studying with Sweelinck, he was an organist in Gdanśk in 1609, then in Kaliningrad in 1611. In 1616 he was the organist in Warsaw in Poland, then from 1623 he returned to the church of St. Mary in Gdanśk. He passed away on 6 May, 1666.

Organ works

In the late 19th and early 20th century, a number of newly discovered manuscripts gave us the works by Siefert that we have today. In 1892, A-Wm Ms. XIV/714 was discovered, which contained a coloration (Intabulation) of a motet by Orlando di Lasso and one Fantasia / . a. 3.. This fantasia was matched with the first of thirteen anonymous fantasias in D-LEm Becker II.2.51 (fascicle 1), and now all thirteen fantasias are generally thought to be composed by Siefert. Finally, the discovery of the Lynar Tablatures revealed one more piece by Siefert: a set of chorale variations on Puer Natus in Bethlehem in D-B Ms. Lynar B 1 (in addition to another piece appearing immediately afterwards, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland^[1] on f.5v-6r_{(Third variation)} and f.8v-10r_{(Choral, First variation, Second variation, Fourth variation)} which has typically been considered as a Siefert composition. However, according to Klaus Beckmann this piece can hardly be attributed to him).

Organ works by Paul Siefert
Source	Title	Incipit	Notes	Ref.
Fantasias
A-Wm Ms. XIV/714 f.209v-210r D-LEm Becker II.2.51 fasc.1 p.1-3	[A-Wm] Fantasia / . a. 3. / Paul sivert. [D-LEm] Fantasia Jmj / Tonj ex G bmol. / a 3./ 1.	$<< \relative d'' { r2 d2~d4 c bes a } \\ \relative d' { d1 d2 d } >>$		^[2]
D-LEm Becker II.2.51 fasc.1 p.3-6	Fantasia / Jmj Tonj / Ex D. / 2.	$<< \relative a' { R1 a4 d, a' b } \\ \relative d' { d4 a d e f1 } >>$		^[2]
D-LEm Becker II.2.51 fasc.1 p.5-8	Fantasia / 2di Tonj / G bmol. / 3.	$<< \relative d' { d8 e f d g a bes g d'1*1/4 } \\ \relative g { R1 g8 a } >>$		^[2]
D-LEm Becker II.2.51 fasc.1 p.7-10	Fantasia / 3tij Toni / Ex E. La. Mi. / 4.	$<< \relative e' { e4. f8 g a b c b2 } \\ \relative e' { R1 e4. d8 } >>$		^[2]
D-LEm Becker II.2.51 fasc.1 p.9-12	Fantasia / 4ti Tonj. / Ex E La Mi. / 5.	$\relative e' { e1 a g2 e }$		^[2]
D-LEm Becker II.2.51 fasc.1 p.11-14	Fantasia / 5tj Tonj / Ex f. bmol. / 6.	$\relative c' { \clef alto c1 c2 c bes a }$		^[2]
D-LEm Becker II.2.51 fasc.1 p.15-16	Fantasia / 5tj Tonj / Ex F. bmol. / 7.	$\relative f' { f4 g a bes c f,8 g a }$		^[2]
D-LEm Becker II.2.51 fasc.1 p.17-20	Fantasia / 6tj Tonj / Ex C. / 8.	$\relative c' { \clef alto c4 b8 a g4 a8 b c d e }$		^[2]
D-LEm Becker II.2.51 fasc.1 p.19-22	Fantasia / 7mj Tonj / Ex g. hdur. / 9	$\relative g { \clef alto g1 d'2 c d << c2 \\ c,2 >> }$		^[2]
D-LEm Becker II.2.51 fasc.1 p.21-24	Fantasia / 7mj Tonj / Ex G. / 10.	$\relative d'' { d4 c8 b a4 b c b8 a }$		^[2]
D-LEm Becker II.2.51 fasc.1 p.23-28	Fantasia 8. Tonj. / Ex G. / 11.	$\relative g { \clef alto g1 g2 g a b }$		^[2]
D-LEm Becker II.2.51 fasc.1 p.27-30	Fantasia 8 Tonj. / Ex G. / 12.	$\relative g { \clef alto g1 b c2 d }$		^[2]
D-LEm Becker II.2.51 fasc.1 p.29-32	Fantasia / 9 Tonj / Ex A. La. mi. re. / 13.	$\relative e' { e1 e2 e d e }$	written at end: Angefang den / 19 Martij / volendet d 21 Julij / A.o i646.	^[2]
Choral Work
D-B Ms. Lynar B 1 f.6v-9r	Puer natus / im Bethlehem / a/ Paulus Sivert:	[1.] $\relative g' { \clef alto \time 3/2 \partial 2 <g d bes g>2 \| 1 <g e bes g>2 }$ 2. Variatio, Choral in Basso $<< \relative g' { \clef bass \time 3/2 \partial 2 g4 a bes a g a } \\ \relative bes { bes4 c d c bes c } \\ \\ \relative g, { g2 1 } >>$ 3. Variatio, Choral in Tenor et Cantu $<< \relative g' { \time 3/2 \clef alto \partial 2 s2 r2 g4 f } \\ \relative g { s2 g4 f ees d } \\ \relative g { g2 g1 } >>$ 4. Variatio, Choral in Cantu, $<< \relative g' { \clef alto \time 3/2 \partial 2 g2 g1 } \\ \relative g { g2 1 } \\ \relative d' { d2 d4 c bes c } \\ \relative bes { bes2 bes4 a g a } >>$ 5. Variatio, $<< \relative g' { \clef alto \time 3/2 \partial 2 <g d bes>2 1*1/2 } \\ \relative g { g2 r8 g f ees }>>$ 6. Variatio, Choral in Basso, $<< \relative bes' { \time 3/2 \partial 2 <bes d>2 1 } \\ \relative g { g2 1 } \\ \relative d' { s2 r4 d e f }>>$ 7tima Variatio, Choral in Cantu $<< \relative g' { \time 3/2 \clef alto \partial 2 g2 g4 fis g a } \\ \relative g { g2 g1 } \\ \relative d' { d2 d1 } \\ \relative bes { bes2 bes4 a bes c } >>$ 8. Variatio, $<< \relative g' { \time 3/2 \clef alto \partial 2 g2 g8 f e f } \\ \relative g { g2 g } \\ \relative d' { d2 } \\ \relative bes { bes2 bes8 a g a } >>$		^[2]
Intabulation
A-Wm Ms. XIV/714 f.208v-210r	Orland: d' Lasso / Benedicam / Dominum in / Oni Tempore / A. 5. Voc: / Paul siüert. color:	$<< \relative g' { \clef alto g1 g8 d e fis } \\ \relative g { R1 g1*1/2 } >>$		^[2]