Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621); NLD

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562–1621) was a Dutch composer, organist, and teacher born in Deventer and raised in Amsterdam. He spent virtually his entire professional life as organist of Amsterdam’s Oude Kerk. His reputation as an improviser and teacher spread widely, attracting pupils from northern Germany and giving him an important role in the transmission of keyboard technique and contrapuntal practice across Protestant Europe.

Sweelinck composed vocal music in several languages as well as a major body of keyboard works, including fantasias, toccatas, and variations. His Fantasia Chromatica is among his best-known keyboard compositions. His pupils included Samuel Scheidt and other founders of the north German organ school, making Sweelinck a crucial link between Renaissance polyphony and the Baroque keyboard tradition that ultimately culminated in Bach.

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Read biography at allmusic.com.