Heinrich Scheidemann (c. 1595-1663)
Works for Organ, Volume 2

Heinrich Scheidemann was born in about 1595 in Wöhrden, Holstein where his father David was organist. By 1604 the family had moved to Hamburg, when David Scheidemann became the organist of Catharinen­kirche. During the seventeenth century Hanseatic Hamburg was a thriving town with a strong economy and a flourishing culture. The town's location close to the river Elbe and the different seas made it ideal for merchants from a variety of ports. Organists were highly esteemed in these prosperous times, and the Scheidemann family surely benefited from the city's goodwill. Young Heinrich must have impressed the congregation's elders directly, as from 1611 to 1614 the parish of the Catharinenkirche supported Heinrich during his studies with Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck in Amsterdam. Not much else is known about Heinrich Scheidemann until 1629, when he succeeded his father as organist at the Catharinenk