Fridolin Sicher was a Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 composer and organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

 of the Renaissance era

Renaissance music

Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...

. He was born in Bischofszell

Bischofszell

Bischofszell is a municipality in Weinfelden District in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district. In 1987, the city was awarded the Wakker Prize for the preservation of its architectural heritage...

 and began his study of the organ at the age of 13 with Martin Vogelmaier, the organist of Konstanz Cathedral. He then studied theology and in 1510 became a prebend and organist at St Agnes Church in Bischofszell. He later returned to Konstanz for further study with Hans Buchner

Hans Buchner

Hans Buchner was an important German organist and composer....

 (a pupil of Paul Hofhaimer

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...

). Sicher went on to become the organist of the collegiate church

Collegiate church

In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...

 of St Gallen (circa 1516) and of St Michael's Church in Ensisheim

Ensisheim

Ensisheim is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.On 7 November 1492, a 250 pound meteorite fell there, and since then it has attracted many meteorite enthusiasts. It was described in detail by the contemporary poet Sebastian Brant.Ensisheim is also the birthplace...

 (circa 1531). He returned to Bischofszell in 1537, where he was made both organist and chaplain of St Agnes Church.

His St Gallen Organ Book (compiled between 1512 and 1521) contains 176 mainly pieces, predominantly of sacred music, by over 90 Renaissance composers. Of those pieces, 110 are transcriptions of vocal works including his own composition, Resonet in laudibus, as well as works by Busnoys, Josquin, Weerbeke, Agricola

Alexander Agricola

Alexander Agricola was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. A prominent member of the Grande chapelle, the Habsburg musical establishment, he was a renowned composer in the years around 1500, and his music was widely distributed throughout Europe...

, Compère

Compere

Compère can refer to:* Loyset Compère, a French composer of the Renaissance* Louis Fursy Henri Compere , a French general in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars...

, Isaac

Heinrich Isaac

Heinrich Isaac was a Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer of south Netherlandish origin. He wrote masses, motets, songs , and instrumental music. A significant contemporary of Josquin des Prez, Isaac influenced the development of music in Germany...

, Brumel

Antoine Brumel

Antoine Brumel was a French composer. He was one of the first renowned French members of the Franco-Flemish school of the Renaissance, and, after Josquin des Prez, was one of the most influential composers of his generation....

, La Rue

Pierre de La Rue

Pierre de la Rue , called Piersson, was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance. A member of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, and a long associate of the Habsburg-Burgundian musical chapel, he ranks with Agricola, Brumel, Compère, Isaac, Obrecht, and Weerbeke as one of the...

, Mouton

Jean Mouton

Jean Mouton was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was famous both for his motets, which are among the most refined of the time, and for being the teacher of Adrian Willaert, one of the founders of the Venetian School....

, Obrecht

Jacob Obrecht

Jacob Obrecht was a Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was the most famous composer of masses in Europe in the late 15th century, being eclipsed by only Josquin des Prez after his death.-Life:...

, Pipelare and others. In 1546 Sicher had surgery from which he never recovered and died in the city of his birth at the age of 50.

Sources

• Clark, James Midgley, The Abbey of St. Gall as a Centre of Literature and Art, Cambridge University Press, 1926