Arnolt Schlick was a German organist, lutenist and composer of the Renaissance. He is grouped among the composers known as the Colorists. He was most probably born in Heidelberg and by 1482 established himself as court organist for the Electorate of the Palatinate. Highly regarded by his superiors and colleagues alike, Schlick played at important historical events, such as the election of Maximilian I as King of the Romans, and was widely sought after as organ consultant throughout his career. The last known references to him are from 1521; the circumstances of his death are unknown.
Antonio de Cabezón was a Spanish Renaissance composer and organist. Blind from childhood, he quickly rose to prominence as a performer and was eventually employed by the royal family. He was among the most important composers of his time and the first major Iberian keyboard composer.
The Robertsbridge Codex (1360) is a music manuscript of the 14th century. It contains the earliest surviving music written specifically for keyboard.
Organ tablature is a form of musical notation used by the north German Baroque organ school, although there are also forms of organ tablature from other countries such as Italy, Spain, Poland, and England. Portions of Johann Sebastian Bach's Orgelbüchlein are written in tablature, as are a great deal of the surviving manuscripts of the organ works of Dieterich Buxtehude and other north German organ composers of the Baroque era.
Jan z Lublina, or Joannis de Lublin, was a Polish composer and organist who lived in the first half of the 16th century. Not much is known about his life but he was a member of the Order of Canons Regular of the Lateran, circa 1540, and was possibly the organist at the convent in Kraśnik, near Lublin. Perhaps he is identical to one of the two Jans, the first of which received his master's degree in artibus et philosophia in 1499, and the second his baccalariatus in artibus in 1508 in the Kazimierz Academy in Kraków. From 1537 to 1548, he created the famous organ tablature, whose title is Tabulatura Ioannis de Lyublyn Canonic[orum] Reg[u]lariu[m] de Crasnyk. This is the largest organ tablature in the world and one of the earliest. It contains several compositions by Nicolaus Cracoviensis, as well as numerous intabulations of works written by Josquin, Heinrich Finck, Janequin, Ludwig Senfl, Claudin de Sermisy, Philippe Verdelot, Johann Walter, etc.
Mikołaj Radomski, also called Mikołaj z Radomia and Nicholas of Radom, was an early 15th-century Polish composer. He was connected with the court of Władysław Jagiełło and wrote polyphonic music renowned for its expression of religious contemplation.
The French Organ Mass is a type of Low Mass that came into use during the Baroque era. Essentially it is a Low Mass with organ music playing throughout: part of the so-called alternatim practice.
Keyboard tablature is a form of musical notation for keyboard instruments. Widely used in some parts of Europe from the 15th century, it co-existed with, and was eventually replaced by modern staff notation in the 18th century. The defining characteristic of the best known type, German organ tablature, is the use of letters to indicate pitch as well as beams for rhythm. Spain and Portugal used a slightly different cipher tablature, called cifra.
Willi Apel was a German-American musicologist and noted author of a number of books devoted to music. Among his most important publications are the 1944 edition of The Harvard Dictionary of Music and French Secular Music of the Late Fourteenth Century.
Manuel Rodrigues Coelho was a Portuguese organist and composer. He is the first important Iberian keyboard composer since Cabezón.
Intabulation, from the Italian word intavolatura, refers to an arrangement of a vocal or ensemble piece for keyboard, lute, or other plucked string instrument, written in tablature.
The Ileborgh Tablature is a source of early keyboard music. It was compiled by Adam Ileborgh in 1448. Since 1981 it has been in a private collection; previously the tablature was in possession of Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Adam of Wągrowiec was a Polish composer and organist, as well as a Cistercian monk in the Wągrowiec cloister.
Fiori musicali is a collection of liturgical organ music by Girolamo Frescobaldi, first published in 1635. It contains three organ masses and two secular capriccios. Generally acknowledged as one of Frescobaldi's greatest works, Fiori musicali influenced composers during at least two centuries. Johann Sebastian Bach was among its admirers, and parts of it were included in the celebrated Gradus ad parnassum, a highly influential 1725 treatise by Johann Joseph Fux which was in use even in the 19th century.
Hernando de Cabezón, was a Spanish composer and organist, son of Antonio de Cabezón. Only a few of his works are extant today, and he is chiefly remembered for publishing the bulk of his father's work.
Il secondo libro di toccate is a collection of keyboard music by Girolamo Frescobaldi, first published in 1627. A work of immense historical importance, it includes the first known chaconne and passacaglia, as well as the earliest set of variations on an original theme. Il secondo libro di toccate is widely regarded as a high point in Frescobaldi's oeuvre.
Antonio Valente was an Italian Renaissance organist and composer. He was blind from childhood and served as organist of Sant'Angelo a Nilo in Naples in 1565–80. During that time he published two collections of keyboard instruments music: Intavolatura de cimbalo and Versi spirituali. Further information is found on the Italian wiki page: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Valente
Marcin Leopolita was one of the most eminent Polish composers of the 16th century. He attended the Jagiellonian University and may have studied under the Polish composer Sebastian z Felsztyna and Jan Jelen of Tuchola.
The Gdańsk Tablature is the common name used to refer to the collection of 42 keyboard pieces contained within a manuscript in the State Archive in Gdańsk dating back to 1591. The music is frequently presumed to be the work of Cajus Schmiedtlein. Some of the compositions in the manuscript are based on vocal works by Pierre Regnault Sandrin, Orlando di Lasso, Baldassare Donato, Jacob Clemens non Papa, Johann Walter, Claudin de Sermisy, Thomas Crecquillon, Domenico Ferrabosco, Jean de Latre, Jacquet de Berchem, Jakob Meiland, Alexander Utendal, Giaches de Wert and Germano Pallavicino.
The Buxheim Organ Book is a manuscript created around 1460/1470 with 256 original compositions and arrangements for keyboard instruments for the Buxheim Charterhouse in Germany, in today's district of Unterallgäu. Most of the composers are anonymous, but some are also known composers of the time.