Gottfried Scheidt

Gottfried Scheidt (20 September 1593 – 3 June 1661) was a German composer and organist. Born in Halle, he moved to Amsterdam in 1611 to study with Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, returning home in 1615 to further study with his older brother Samuel Scheidt and others. He was appointed organist to the Altenburg court in 1617, and held the post until his retirement on 5 May 1658. He was successful and respected, and aside from playing the organ, directed the newly founded Hofkapelle, despite the strictures of the Thirty Years' War.