Buxtehude

This latest addition to Christopher Herrick’s acclaimed Buxtehude catalogue is performed on the magnificent Organ of Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge. Everything heard on this disc was composed over three-hundred years ago when printed music was a rarity and organists were required to be highly proficient in the art of improvisation. Certainly none of Buxtehude’s organ works was printed in his lifetime, and it was not until 1875 that they first became available. Herrick’s communication is exceptional in these stimulating performances and his inspired interpretations are so vivid that they appear improvisatory in their approach.

Dieterich Buxtehude was a Danish-German organist and composer of the Baroque period. His organ works represent a central part of the standard organ repertoire and are frequently performed at recitals and in church services. He composed in a wide variety of vocal and instrumental idioms, and his style strongly influenced many composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach. Today, Buxtehude is considered one of the most important composers in Germany of the mid-Baroque.

Although written for the configuration of two violins and continuo, Dietrich Buxtehude's Seven Sonatas, Op. 1, are not trio sonatas in the usual sense. They refer back to the older type of Italian ensemble sonata, with contrasting short sections following in rapid succession rather than the three- or four-movement sonata or dance suite types. Buxtehude came at the end of this tradition, which by 1694, when these sonatas were first published, was beginning to give way to newer Italian types in points further south. He treated the form in the free, rather fantastic style that was his trademark, emphasizing sudden shifts and using the full range of formal devices available to him; the music may, for example, break into an unexpected fugue.

A marvelous treatment of Pachelbel's lesser known works with a definitive performance of the all-too famous Canon. Too many interpreters of the Canon use the wrong tempo for this work, too slow and sentimental. This group does not and they have made it possible to listen to this work without gagging. They also do a wonderful job of presenting Buxtehude's chamber music. This composer is too often associated with ponderous Baroque organ music.

Buxtehude & Co - Caecilia-Concert
Krieger - Weckmann - Becker - Buxtehude - Theile
Classical, Baroque | 1 CD | EAC | FLAC, CUE, LOG | Scans | 383 MB | RS
Recorded: 10, 11 & 13 Nov. 2006, Laurentiuskerk, Mijnsheerenland, NL
Released: 2007 | Label: Challenge Classics CC72179 | TT: 76:18
Caecilia-Concert (Fiona Russell - cornetto/cornettino, Adam Woolf -
trombone, Wouter Verschuren - dulcian, Kathryn Cok - harpsichord
& organ, Annabelle Ferdinand - violin)

The program represents a musical view of the 17th-century North German collegia musica and the Abendmusiken, which were special concerts presented for merchants, lawyers, and other successful members of society. Inherently secular in nature, this repertoire is highly virtuosic and presents many demands upon the performers. […] Members of this ensemble ably meet those challenges and more. Their expressive musical lines are perhaps slightly less over-the-top than some cornett and sackbut ensembles, and to my mind, this approach is more enjoyable. […] The performance is flawless. (Jeffrey Nussbaum, historicbrass.org)