Schlick, Arnolt (EN)

Schlick Arnolt, *ca. 1460 Heidelberg (?), †after 1520 Heidelberg (?), German organist, composer and music theorist. His origin from Heidelberg or its vicinity is inferred from the characteristics of the language he used. He probably spent most of his life in this city, where he owned three houses and married in 1482. Nevertheless, he travelled extensively (despite being blind), providing expert consultations on organ construction and assessing the quality of completed instruments (1491 and 1512 Strasbourg, 1503, 1510, 1515, 1520 and 1521 Hagenau in Alsace, 1505, 1506–07 and 1513 Speyer) and performing at major state ceremonies, such as the election of Emperor Maximilian I in 1486 and the exceptionally crowded session of parliament in Worms in 1495, during which the reform of the Reich system was carried out; he may also have personally participated in the coronation ceremonies of Charles V in Aachen (1520). Furthermore, it is known that in 1490–91 he travelled around the Netherlands, and in 1516 he visited the court of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, in Torgau, where he met, among others, P. Hofhaimer. In Worms (1495), he met and briefly befriended S. Virdung, with whom he later had very heated disputes.

In his treatise, Schlick discusses various issues related to performance practice (including the use of ornaments and registers) and organ construction. Musicologists have taken particular interest in his instructions on organ tuning, which are somewhat vague and have sparked lengthy debate in the literature. The first part of Tabulaturen… contains cyclical organ pieces for 3 or 4 voices: the 5-movement Salve Regina (cantus firmus alternating between Tenor and Bassus) and the 3-movement variations Da pacem (the same cantus firmus in the upper voice, Tenor and Bassus) and one-part pieces: an arrangement of the songs Maria zart (cantus firmus with embellishments in the upper voice) and Hoe losteleck (cantus firmus migrans?), as well as pieces without cantus firmus: the imitative Benedictus, and with a small amount of imitation, Christe and the verse Primi toni; the Pete quid vis for 4 voices is perhaps an intabulation, characterised by contrasts between duple and triple metre. The organ works preserved in manuscripts were composed on the occasion of the coronation of Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor (1520). The organ works preserved in manuscripts were composed on the occasion of the coronation of Charles V as King of the Romans (1520). A unique feature among them is the composition Ascendo for 10 voices, intended for instruments with two manuals and a pedal, on which, according to the composer, four bass voices are to be performed. The second part of Tabulaturen… is filled with two types of lute intabulations of German secular songs and one religious song (Maria zart). The 12 intabulations document a practice also known from the prints of F. Bossinensis (1509 and 1511), i.e. the highest voice is intended for vocal performance (written in mensural notation, without text in Schlick’s case). Tenor and Bassus are intended for the lute (written in German tablature), while Altus is omitted; in the last three pieces, the lute performs all three voices taken from the source composition.

Literature: R. Schlecht Ein Beitrag zur Musikgeschichte aus dem Anfange des 16. Jahrhunderts, nach dem “Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten” von Arnolt Schlick (1511), “Monatshefte für Musikgeschichte” II, 1870; S. Tanaka Studien im Gebiet der reinen Stimmung, “Vierteljahrsschrift für Musikwissenschaft” VI, 1890; F. Stein Zur Geschichte der Musik in Heidelberg, Heidelberg 1912, 2nd edition. Geschichte des Musikwesens in Heidelberg, 1921; A. Pirro Orgues et organistes de Haguenau de 1491 à 1525 environ, „Revue de Musicologie” X, 1926; R. Kendall Notes on Arnoldt Schlick, “Acta musicologica” XI, 1939; F. Raugel Les Orgues et les organistes de la cathédrale de Strasbourg, Colmar 1948; R. Lunelli Contributi trentini alle relazioni musicali fra l’Italia e la Germania nel Rinascimento, “Acta Musicologica” XXI, 1949 (contains transcriptions of Ascendo… for 2 or 10 voices); J.M. Barbour Tuning and Temperament, East Lansing 1951; W. Braun Ein Hallisches Exemplar von A. Schlicks “Spiegel”, “Die Musikforschung” VII, 1954; S. Kastner Rapports entre Schlick et Cabezón, w: La musique instrumentale de la Renaissance, ed. J. Jacquot, Paris 1954; H.H. Lenneberg The Critic Criticized. Sebastian Virdung and his Controversy with Arnolt Schlick, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” X, 1957; G. Pietzsch Quellen und Forschungen zur Geschichte der Musik am kurpfälzischen Hof zu Heidelberg bis 1622, Mainz 1963; H. Husmann Zur Charakteristik der Schchlicksehen Temperatur, “Archiv für Musikwissenschaft” XXIV, 1967; Studies in the History of Musical Pitch, ed. A. Mendel, Amsterdam 1968; W.R. Thomas and J.J.K. Rhodes Schlick, Praetorius andthe History of Organ-Pitch, “Organ Yearbook” II, 1971; E.H. Belcher A Stylistic and Historical Evaluation of the Organ Works in Arnold Schlick’s Tabulaturen etlicher Lobgesang und Lidlein, dissertation, Indiana University, 1975; K. Jung Zwei mitteltönige Temperaturen, “Das Musikinstrument” XXVIII, 1979; D. Bush Musicus consummatissimus. The Biography and Organ Music of Arnolt Schlick, “Organ Yearbook” XVI, 1985; C. Turner Arnolt Schlick’s ‘Maria zart’ for Lute and Voice: Background, Sources, Performance, “Journal of the Lute Society of America” XIX, 1986; S. Keyl Arnolt Schlick and Instrumental Music ca.1500, dissertation, Duke University, 1989; A. Edler Arnolt Schlick “Musicus consummatissimus ac organista probatissimus”, in: Von Isaac bis Bach. Studien zur älteren deutschen Musikgeschichte Festschrift Martin Just zum 60. Geburtstag, eds. F. Heidelberger et al., Kassel 1991; C. Meyer “Ein stim zu singen die andern zwicken”. Les arrangements pour voix et luth d’Arnolt Schlick, w: Le concert des voix et des instruments à la Renaissance, ed. J.M. Vaccaro, Paris 1995; A. Edler Arnolt Schlick. “Musicus consumatissimus ac organista probatissimus”, in: Musikalischer Alltag im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert. Musik zwischen Mythologie und Sozialgeschicht, Augsburg 2003; P. Towarek Arnolta Schlicka traktat “Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten” (1511), “Studia Elbląskie” VI, 2004/5; M. Grassl Einige Beobachtungen zu Sebastian Virdung und Arnolt Schlick, in: NiveauNischeNimbus. Die Anfänge des Musikdrucks nördlich der Alpen, ed. B. Lodes, Tutzing 2010; P. Towarek Cechy zewnętrzne organów w świetle traktatu “Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten” (1511), “Studia Elbląskie” XI, 2010; H. Bakker Arnolt Schlick’s “Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten: Mirror of Renaissance culture?”, “Organ Yearbook” XL, 2011; A. Shinn A mirror obscured. The enigma of Arnolt Schlick’s ‘Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten’ in Renaissance England, “Organ Yearbook” XLI, 2012; P. Towarek Głosy organowe w świetle traktatu “Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten” (1511), “Studia Elbląskie” XVIII, 2017; P. Towarek Piszczałki organowe i strój organów według traktatu Arnolta Schlicka “Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten” (1511), “Roczniki Teologiczne” LXV, 2018.