Paul Hofhaimer

Paul Hofhaimer was an Austrian organist and composer. He was particularly gifted at improvisation, and was regarded as the finest organist of his age by many writers, including Vadian and Paracelsus; in addition he was one of only two German-speaking composers of the time who had a reputation in Europe outside of German-speaking countries. He is grouped among the composers known as the Colorists.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Paul Hofhaimer.

From the period sources

Paul Hofhaimer, born in the Alps near Salzburg, was celebrated by contemporaries as an unparalleled organist and lutenist, and “the best composer of the age,” according to A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1900). Luscinius, a musical theorist who studied with Hofhaimer, praised his playing as “full of warmth and power, uniting the most wonderful finger-skill with a majestic flow of harmony previously unsurpassed” (Grove’s Dictionary, 1906). Hofhaimer served Archduke Sigismund of Tyrol before entering the court of Emperor Maximilian I, often accompanying him on journeys, with his main residence in Innsbruck from 1480 to 1519 as the Emperor’s chapel organist (Grove’s Dictionary, 1906). In 1515, after playing the organ for a solemn Te Deum in Vienna before three crowned heads, Emperor Maximilian I had him knighted with the Order of the Golden Spur by King Ladislaus of Hungary, and ennobled him himself (Biographie universelle, 1883; Grove’s Dictionary, 1906). After Maximilian’s death, Hofhaimer returned to Salzburg, serving as Cathedral organist for the Archbishop from 1526 until his own death in 1537 (Grove’s Dictionary, 1906; New Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 1924). His influence extended through numerous distinguished pupils, including Johann Buchner, Conrad of Speier, and Wolfgang of Vienna, who, as Luscinius noted, “conduct our church in large cities and public places” (A General History of the Science and Practice of Music, 1875).