Hans Buchner was an important German 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...

 and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

Buchner was a student 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...

, and may have worked for the emperor Maximilian I

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...

 while Hofhaimer was away. From 1506 he worked in Constance

Constance

Constance is a female given name that derives from Latin and means "constant." Variations of the name include Connie, Constancia, Constanze, Constanza, Stanzy, and Konstanze.Constance may refer to:-People:*Constance Bennett , American actress...

 as the cathedral

Cathedral of Konstanz

The Constance Minster or Cathedral is a historical building in Konstanz, southern Germany, the proto-cathedral of the former diocese of Konstanz .-History:...

 organist. His relationship with Heinrich 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...

 is unclear, but three of the odd-numbered sequence

Sequence

In mathematics, a sequence is an ordered list of objects . Like a set, it contains members , and the number of terms is called the length of the sequence. Unlike a set, order matters, and exactly the same elements can appear multiple times at different positions in the sequence...

 verses he set are in the same transpositions as the Choralis Constantinus

Choralis Constantinus

The Choralis Constantinus is a collection of over 375 Gregorian chant-based polyphonic motets for the proper of the mass composed by Heinrich Isaac and his pupil Ludwig Senfl...

 (he also set Victimae paschali laudes

Victimae Paschali Laudes

Victimae paschali laudes is a sequence prescribed for the Roman Catholic Mass and liturgical Protestant Eucharists of Easter Sunday. It is usually attributed to the 11th century Wipo of Burgundy, chaplain to the German Emperor Conrad II, but has also been attributed to Notker Balbulus, Robert II of...

, whereas Isaac used a different Easter sequence, Laudes salvatori). When, in the course of the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

, the bishop was forced to move his seat to Meersburg

Meersburg

Meersburg is a town of Baden-Württemberg in the southwest of Germany at Lake Constance.It is famous for its charming medieval city. The lower town and upper town are reserved for pedestrians only and connected by two stairways and a steep street .-History:The name of the town means "Burg on the...

, Buchner followed him to continue in his post, while maintaining a residence in Constance. In 1529 he applied for a position at Speyer

Speyer

Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...

, but apparently demanded too high a salary. He was often called to inspect new organs, such as those of Zurich

Zürich

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

 and Heidelberg

Heidelberg

-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...

.

His most important legacy is the Fundamentbuch, a collection of organ music that also includes an introduction to the techniques of playing and improvising on plainchant. Buchner's Collected Organ Works (Sämtliche Orgelwerke) are edited by Jost Harro Schmidt as volumes 54 & 55 of Das Erbe deutscher Musik (Litolff/Frankfurt, 1974) Amongst his pupils was the Swiss organist and composer, Fridolin Sicher

Fridolin Sicher

Fridolin Sicher was a Swiss composer and organist of the Renaissance era. He was born in Bischofszell 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...

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