Johann Ulrich Steigleder

Who was Johann Ulrich Steigleder?

Johann Ulrich Steigleder was a German Baroque composer and organist. He was the most celebrated member of the Steigleder family, which also included Adam Steigleder, his father, and Utz Steigleder, his grandfather.

Steigleder was born in Schwäbisch Hall on 22 March 1593. He was instructed in music by his father Adam, whose teacher was the then-famous Simon Lohet. In 1613 he became organist of Stephanskirche in Lindau, on Lake Constance; then in 1617 he left Lindau for Stuttgart, where he became organist of the abbey church the same year. In 1627 Steigleder was appointed ducal organist at the Württemberg court. While in Stuttgart, he may have taught, among others, Johann Jakob Froberger. He died of plague in 1635 in the midst of the Thirty Years' War.

Steigleder's most important works are his two published collections of organ pieces. The first, Ricercar tabulatura of 1624, introduced a number of important innovations. It was the first German music collection to be published using engraved copper plates. It was also, together with Scheidt's Tabulatura nova, one of the first German printed collections to adopt five-line notation with notes instead of letter notation.