A Voice of Supplication: A Study of Three Genevan Psalm Tunes Set by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck for Two Mediums: Keyboard and Chorus

Abstract

This lecture-recital document presents a study of several of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck's settings of Genevan psalm tunes. The authenticated psalms for keyboard, Psalms 36, 116, and 140, are analyzed alongside their parallel settings for chorus. Sweelinck's unusual position as a civic organist gave him freedom to compose using material from a variety of religious traditions. His psalm-based works, often overshadowed within his output, show his mastery of Franco-Flemish polyphony. This research discusses the transmission and use of the psalm settings, Sweelinck's treatment of the psalm tunes, and stylistic features within the settings, such as form, harmonic language, modality, and text-painting. A substantial portion of the document is dedicated to the use of figuration within the psalm settings, showing four primary ways in which the figuration is derived from the psalm tune. These psalm settings are a monument within Sweelinck's output: the keyboard settings establish a basis for the future of idiomatic instrumental music, while the choral settings are a crowning achievement of the Franco-Flemish polyphonic tradition.