Scacchi-Siefert controversy: a Musical Contest

Opening Concert of the 2nd International MARCO SCACCHI Early Music Festival

The composer and music thinker Marco Scacchi was born in Gallese, a little village about 80Km north of Rome. He became disciple and protégé of Francesco Anerio, in Rome. He went to Warsaw as a violinist about 1621, where he served first as a musician to prince Wladyslaw., and in 1633, he became master of the royal chapel. He influenced a great number of local composers, particularly one of his pupils, Bartlomiej Pekiel, who replaced Scacchi as master of the royal chapel in 1649.

Scacchi composed in all genres of vocal music, and he was a progressive composer; nevertheless both colleagues and audience admired his counterpoint technique. In his treatise “Cibrum Musicum…”, he accuses Paul Siefert of having poor technique, and even called him stupid, what led to a war of words, which last many years. They exchanged written words publically, engendering a controversy that is still matter of research in our days.

Paul Siefert was a German composer and organist born in Danzig (now Gdansk), who was rejected more than once to the position of chapel master, “partially due to complaints about his playing style and arrogance”.  Siefert went to study with Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, in Amsterdam, and return to Danzig to become the organ assistant at the Marienkirche. Siefert's keyboard works reflect the influence of the Sweelinck school, but the set of chorale variations “is weakened by excessive ornamentation and a lack of contrapuntal movement”.

Nowadays, it is difficult to say who was the first to say which one of them was the first to accuse the other, but we know that Siefert was working as organ player at Vasa’s court, at the same time Scacchi was its Chapel Master. Siefert had apply many times in his life for this position, in many different churches and countries, never successfully, that is why he always had a job as organist. Academics agree that most probably Siefert was jealous about Scacchi place, and started the accusation not only towards him, but to the entire Italian school.

This project intends to confront Scacchi’s and Siefert’s music, presenting and as well those of their main influences, Francesco Anerio and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. We included in this program the music of Bartlomiej Pekiel to illustrate how the local scene was influenced by Marco Scacchi.

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The festival is partly financed by the Lithuanian Culture Council