Dietrich Steffkins

Dietrich Steffkins (* after 1600; † probably in December 1673 in Cologne ), also Dietrich Stoeffken , was a German gambist and composer .

Live and act

No sources exist about his early years. Due to the effects of the Thirty Years' War , which led to the downsizing or closure of many court chapels, he was forced to look for employment at various European courts. In 1622 he played under the direction of William Brades in a gamba consort at the Danish royal court of Christian IV. He probably moved with Brade to the ducal court of Frederick III. from Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf . From 1628 he was in the service of Charles I ; In 1636 he was appointed to succeed Maurice Webster, who had recently died, as musician in ordinary the King's private music . Steffkins left England before the civil war broke out . In 1642 he was first gambist at the Brandenburg court of the Great Elector . In the following years he held positions with changing employers in The Hague (1647/48), Hamburg (1652-1654), Regensburg (1654) and Rome (1659) until he decided to return to England. Under the Anglicised name Theodore Steffkins , he took up his post in Private Musick , which was now under the reign of Charles II . Presumably he also worked as a viol teacher. In 1673 he accompanied the English ambassador on a diplomatic mission to Cologne, where he died in December.

Steffkins was one of the most esteemed gamba soloists of his time. The high technical level of his playing is evident in his virtuoso compositions. As a token of appreciation, his contemporaries called him Old Steffkins . Christiaan Huygens and John Jenkins were among his personal friends and admirers, whom he had met at the English royal court . With the latter he exchanged views on composition and music theory.

Works

• Two collections of divisions on a ground ( diminutions ) for bass viol and figured bass
• Divisions for bass viol solo
• Ten pieces for viola solo
• approx. 70 lesson pieces for bass viol, viola lyre and baryton ( preludes , allemands , courants , sarabands , gigs )