Jacob van Eyck Quarterly

The name Matthijsz is an abbreviation of Matthijszoon, which means 'son of Matthijs' (Matthew). Paulus Matthijsz was born in 1613 or 1614 in Harderwijk, a small town on the shore of the Zuider Zee.

His father, Mathijs Pouwelzen, was a schoolmaster who came from Copenhagen, Denmark. On 17 April 1640, Paulus Matthijsz married Elisabeth van Pul, the ceremony being performed in the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) of Amsterdam. On 4 August of the same year, he became a member of the Guild of Bookprinters, Booksellers and Art dealers, two weeks later he was registered officially as a citizen of Amsterdam.

Although Matthijsz printed books in all kind of genres, both musical and non-musical, the printing of notes became his main activity. His shop in the Stoofsteegh was called 't Muzyk-Boek ('The Music Book'). The first music editions, three- and five-part balletti by Gastoldi, appeared in 1641. These, however, were printed by order of other Amsterdam booksellers (Jan Jansz, Everhard Cloppenburgh). The earliest known examples of music editions that he published under his own flag, are Jacob van Eyck's Euterpe oft Speel-goddinne I (later becoming Der Fluyten Lust-hof I) and the anthology Der Goden Fluit-hemel (The Gods' Flute-Heaven), both from 1644 and printed simultaneously on paper with the same watermark.

Paulus Matthijsz was probably a recorder player himself. This could explain why he started building his own list in 1644 with the publication of two collections, both aimed at recorder players. He may have done so out of personal interest. The anthology Der Goden Fluit-hemel contains three solo pieces for recorder of his hand: variations on 'Courante Monsieur', 'Kits Allemande' and on a nameless tune. Evidence exists that several anonymous pieces are Matthijsz's work as well. He can also be held responsible for the Vertoninge en Onderwijzinge op de Hand-fluit, a recorder instruction of 1649 that was signed with 'P.M.', and for the duet arrangements that appeared in the 1649 editions of van Eyck's Der Fluyten Lust-hof I.

Paulus Matthijsz was buried on 5 December 1684 in the Amsterdam Zuiderkerk. Two daughters, Alida and Maria, took over their father's business as 'the heirs of Paulus Matthijsz'.

Thiemo Wind

Literature:

Rasch, R.A. 'Musica dîs curae est: the life and work of the Amsterdam music printer Paulus Matthysz (1613/4-1684).' In: Quaerendo, IV:2 (1974), 86-99.

The Gods' Flute-Heaven: An anthology of solo pieces for Soprano Recorder by Dutch 17th-century composers, ed. Th. Wind (Earlham Press, EP 1010).

Der Goden Fluit-hemel (Amsterdam 1644), facsimile edition with an introduction by Thiemo Wind (Utrecht: Stimu, 1993).

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