Dieterich Buxtehude played a major role in shaping the various types of vocal music in his time. His experience as organist, composer, and director—as well as his extensive knowledge of the contemporary repertoire, including Italian music—made him the most original and significant contributor to the early cantata in northern Germany. On this beautiful CD, Ton Koopman and his Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir expose the “unknown Buxtehude.”

BUXTEHUDE An filius non est Dei, BuxWV 6. All solch, BuxWV 3. Schwinget euch, BuxWV 96. Laudate, pueri, BuxWV 69. Mit Fried und Freud, BuxWV 76. O wie selig, BuxWV 90. Du Frieden-Fürst, BuxWV 21. Fürwahr, er trug, BuxWV 31. Herzlich tut mich, BuxWV 42. Nimm von uns, BuxWV 78. Quemadmodum desiderat, BuxWV 92. Ich halte, BuxWV 48. Ich sprache, BuxWV 49. Jesu, meiner Freuden Meister, BuxWV 61. Wär Gott, BuxWV 102. Dein edles Herz, BuxWV 14. Wenn ich, BuxWV 107. Domine salvum fac, BuxWV 18 • Ton Koopman,cond; Amaryllis Dieltiens, Gerlinde Sämann, Dorothee Wohlgemuth (sop); Maarten Engeltjes (alt); Tilman Lichdi (ten); Klaus Mertens (bs); Amsterdam Baroque O • CHALLENGE 72256 (2 CDs: 146:44 Text and Translation)


BUXTEHUDE Wachet auf, BuxWV 101. O clemens, BuxWV 82. Gen Himmel, BuxWV 32. Surrexit Christus, BuxWV 99. Mein Herz, BuxWV 73. Singet dem Herrn, BuxWV 98. Canon, BuxWV 121. Gigue, BuxWV 121. Meine Seele, BuxWV 74. Herr, ich lasse, BuxWV 36. Wachet auf, BuxWV 100. O Gottes Stadt, BuxWV 87. Wie soll ich dich, BuxWV 109. Sicut Moses, BuxWV 97. Salve desiderium, BuxWV 93. Gott, hilf mir, BuxWV 34 • Ton Koopman, cond; Miriam Feuersinger, Bettina Pahn, Dorothee Wohlgemuth (sop); Maarten Engeltjes (alt); Tilman Lichdi (ten); Klaus Mertens (bs); Amsterdam Baroque O & Ch • CHALLENGE 72257 (2 CDs: 135:01 Text and Translation)

These four discs are the last in Ton Koopman’s complete set of Dieterich Buxtehude’s vocal works. (He has also finished recording the keyboard and chamber works.) The first two issues consisted of two CDs devoted to Das jüngste Gericht , BuxWV Anh. 3 ( Fanfare 30:6) and two CDs of some of the vocal works that Georg Karstädt numbered BuxWV 1 to 120 (31:5) in 1974. These works comprise a variety of forms; Karstädt called the first 112 works “cantatas,” a term the composer did not use. I tried to sort this out as thoroughly as possible in my review in 31:5, but unfortunately the next three issues (volumes 3 to 5, a total of five CDs) did not come my way. But then came Membra Jesu Nostri (36:3), and now, at last, we can hear volumes 7 and 8, a total of four more CDs, two in each issue.


Included are 10 first recordings, along with one work recorded only on shellac by Mogens Wöldike, three more recorded only once each on LP, and one recorded only once on CD. These rarities are mingled with 28 more familiar works. We should single out the canon and gigue that bears the number 121. These fragments of a cantata were only recently discovered, but Karstädt included them under this number (he also has number 122 that was previously recorded by both Koopman and by Magnus Kjellson on Intim). Another interesting recorded premiere is Wachet auf , BuxWV 100, a setting that uses the melody and all three verses of Philipp Nicolai’s hymn. It is in volume 8, as well as a modern strophic aria setting of the same text, BuxWV 101, already recorded three times even though doubt has been cast on its authenticity.


A more familiar work is Mit Fried und Freud , a contrapuntal setting of Luther’s hymn in four verses, followed by Buxtehude’s own lament for his father in seven verses. Early recordings offered only one part or the other; more recently the two sections have been recorded together, but the lament has never been sung complete, at most four verses (here only verses 1, 3, and 7); I can find the other four verses only by picking out three different discs. As recorded here in the original high pitch (exactly half a tone higher than Emma Kirkby), Koopman asks rhetorically, “Could there be anything more beautiful?”


One of the favorite solo cantatas, and one of the first two Buxtehude cantatas ever recorded, is Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied , sung by soprano Bettina Pahn. Her competition is formidable, including Helen Boatwright, Honor Sheppard, and Emma Kirkby, but this is suitably stylish with vocal flourishes and a strong voice. The most recent version, exceptionally, came from a tenor, Hans Jörg Mammel (35:1).


One of the larger works is Fürwahr, er trug unsere Krankheit for five soloists, a sacred concerto based on Passion prophecies of Isaiah. The text is only eight lines long, but it is treated expansively. The setting is especially grateful for the singers, who are supported by strings in five parts.


The concluding work of the whole series is the longest one on these four discs, Gott, hilf mir , recorded only a few times, most recently by Konrad Junghänel (21:3) and Roland Wilson (31:3). The text is compiled from Isaiah, two psalms, and other sources, preceded by a long instrumental sinfonia. The setting calls for three soloists, and Koopman uses a chorus for the chorale sections, as Wilson also does. Comparisons with competing versions would be instructive, but the comprehensive survey of the entire series of vocal works on 14 discs has a unique validity. Not only do they form a compact collection, but they provide numerous recording premieres. Lacking sufficient reference sources, I cannot account for any recordings of over a dozen titles, but that will require further study. It is hard to imagine a competing set of this magnitude coming along very soon (a remark that has proved rash in other repertoire, to be sure), so accept this as a signal accomplishment, even if you want to use some other versions for comparison.


FANFARE: J. F. Weber

An outstanding volume in Koopman's complete Buxtehude cycle from Challenge will delight, stimulate and please in every respect.

Ton Koopman's survey of the entire works of Buxtehude seems to be getting more enjoyable and exciting with each release. Here we are at what must be (just under) about two-thirds of the way through - volume 14, the fifth in the series of the composer's vocal works. The five high soloists and a tenor and bass are lively, confident, sensitive - the dialogue in Bedenke Mensch das Ende [tr.5] is a good example of real, studied drama - and technically brilliant (listen to the ensemble singing and pacing towards the end of Jesu, komm, mein Trost und Lachen [tr.7], for instance). They infuse their performances with joy, depth, clarity, devotion and the other emotions required by the glorious - yet almost unknown - writing of Buxtehude … essentially Germanic but with the inevitable influence of Italy in general and Monteverdi in particular also much in evidence.

Some of the works on this CD were recorded as long ago as 2007 and 2008; the booklet is unusually unforthcoming about which and where. This suggests that Koopman may be 'collecting' from Buxtehude's œuvre at this stage in the project. But there is nothing about the collection on this generous and amply-recorded CD to make us think we're experiencing the 'also-rans' or dregs. This is music of great exactness: penetrating, striking and original. Buxtehude's gift for melody, structure and the creation of complex, subtle yet highly meaningful textures is in evidence from first note to last.

Only three or four of the works presented here are otherwise available - in compilations and on DVD, for example. So there is every reason to acquire this CD without hesitation - even were its performances not of the extremely high calibre that they are. Each of the soloists has something definite, communicative and enriching to offer. The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra is also on typically excellent form.

The new impetus given to music after the devastation of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) by the evolving Geistliches Konzert (sacred concerto) is also responsible for much of the measured yet unmistakable vivacity of Buxtehude's choral writing here … usually a short instrumental introduction, an impactful, self-contained and focused Biblical phrase or section of text is explored by one or more soloists - with instrumental 'support' rather than intricate comment in its own right. A true point of departure for and from the church cantata. The musicians involved in this excellent CD from Challenge thoroughly understand the idiom of the Geistliches Konzert.

This CD has other forms which are as striking by their then innovative nature at Buxtehude's time as by their 'stability' and overseeing command of the blend of musical form and idea with text are to us now. These include the strophic arias and ciacconne; and the concerto-aria cantatas ( Je hoher du bist [tr.1] and Herr, wenn ich nur dich habe [tr.2]). One senses Buxtehude's delight at the freedom of expression which these forms afford him. And the performers' responsiveness and involvement … Buxtehude was laying all sorts of ground for others - not least Bach. But he was also writing devotional music for local 'consumption' and probably specific occasions in Lübeck. So the singers need to steer a fairly narrow course between emphasising the historical moment in which the music was written; and its more general meaning. They do. At the same time, their singing and playing have a modern touch … it's immediate, 'edgy' almost, the singers' articulation of the all-important texts are crystalline, liquid, limpid - without ever being florid.

The acoustic is clean, though perhaps a touch too dry for the not ostentatious but peacefully declamatory nature of some of the music. The booklet with notes by Christoph Wolff is highly informative and has the texts in German (and Latin for Jesu, dulcis memoria) and English. If you're already collecting this cycle, don't hesitate for a second. If you want to sample historically significant and beautiful music from the under-performed Buxtehude, this is a great place to start.

-- Mark Sealey, MusicWeb International

A performance that has a zest of life, freshness and vigour.

This recording presents the eight unpublished chamber works of Dieterich Buxtehude. As the excellently clear booklet notes by Christoph Wolff explain, these pieces show a less uniform scoring than those which were published in Hamburg in the late seventeenth-century, which, Wolff speculates, may be a reason for their relative neglect: the varied instrumentation by which they are characterised made them less suitable for printing as a set.

The commercial stringencies of the 1690s notwithstanding, these are marvellously adventurous works in which all parts are given equal prominence within the texture. The effect is of truly three-dimensional Sonatas which, in this respect, foreshadow the String Quartets of Haydn and, more especially, of Mozart. They are here afforded performances of much understanding by these fine musicians, whose careful consideration of the works’ compositional structures produces realisations which are full of energy and vitality, shot through with light; but also of great strength and authority.

The sophistication and artistry of the performers is immediately evident from the first piece on the disc: the Sonata in C for two violins, viola da gamba and basso continuo (BuxWV 266). The sounds of the bowed string instruments are well enough differentiated to enhance the counterpoint, but similar enough to ensure an integrated sound. The bow is used primarily as an expressive medium; and subtly shaped phrases and finely graded repeated notes serve top enhance the structure of the melodic lines. Nuanced playing is also characteristic of the Sonata in A minor for violin, viola da gamba and basso continuo (BuxWV 272) that follows, the violin and viola da gamba complementing each other admirably; this Sonata is also notable for its incisive rhythmic control and employment of virtuosic bowing techniques, which are effortlessly applied.

The continuo is brought more to the fore in the following two Sonatas: and the fuller harmonic background appears to stimulate an even more heightened response in terms of the shaping of melodic lines. The Sonata in B-flat (BuxWV 273) features some especially fine lute playing in the first movement, which lends an air of Mediterranean exuberance to the work. Indeed, the use of the lute is particularly successful in all the works presented on this disc, as it provides a piquant contrast to the chamber organ and, even in those works in which the harpsichord is used as the keyboard continuo instrument, the sound is sufficiently different to allow for interesting and, at times, dramatic changes of colour; which are, however, never employed gratuitously, but always with regard to the formal structure of the music. The continuo instruments are also recorded with enough clarity and afforded enough prominence to enable both horizontal and vertical components of the part to be clearly heard.

The booklet is clearly presented with, as has previously been mentioned, extremely informative and well-written notes. Each work on the disc is presented on one track – the individual movements are not separated by track breaks – which means that each Sonata is given as a single entity, and is clearly intended to be listened to as such. The only – very minor – quibble is that the single violinist in the works for violin, viola da gamba and basso continuo (Tracks 2, 4 and 5) is not identified.

This is an extremely intelligent, convincingly performed and well-packaged disc, which stimulates the listener to investigate further the chamber music of this relatively little-known, somewhat overshadowed composer. It presents all that musical performance at its best should involve: a cerebral, authoritative approach; a demonstrative realisation; and a performance that has a zest of life, freshness and vigour.

-- Em Marshall-Luck, MusicWeb International

Outstanding … full of rich, sonorous and decidedly beautiful choral music.

Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707) is a major figure in the music of the Baroque period. But his innate worth as a composer of beautiful and profound music exists regardless of period. His historical significance in Baroque organ music is hard to overstate. Yet here we are at the eleventh volume of his complete works conceived and executed by one of the most accomplished and respected directors of the 'early' music movement, Ton Koopman, and next to no attention is being paid to the enterprise, presumably at about its half way point.
 
To be charitable, that relative neglect could in part be due to the spate of anniversaries lately. To the fact that Buxtehude's music is still poorly known, despite its influence on Bach. It was to hear Buxtehude play that Bach famously walked over 200 miles (from Arnstadt to Lübeck) in October 1705, remember. Moreover, the former's style and achievements greatly influenced the latter. The neglect - of Buxtehude's wonderful music, and of this recording project - could also be due to a fear that Buxtehude's style is inaccessible, his writing foreign, over 'academic', or otherwise unremarkable.
 
One by one, Koopman's double CDs on his own label, Antoine Marchand (with Challenge), have dispelled such myths and persuasively advocated the variety, beauty and originality of Buxtehude's music. To be sure, his reputation has tended to rest hitherto on his organ music. And indeed Koopman has more than done justice to that segment of the composer's output. Remarkably innovative, it represents the culmination of seventeenth century organ music.
 
Yet Buxtehude's vocal music is exciting, full of sonority, inventive and of great beauty and vigour. This release is the fourth surveying that body. It consists of a dozen and a half or so arias, concerti and cantatas. Unlike most of Buxtehude's organ music, which was composed in the course of his duties as organist at Lübeck, many of the vocal commissions were for the public concerts held in the winter evenings at St Mary's there … the Abendmusiken. Many of the oratorios which we know Buxtehude wrote have not survived, although - tantalisingly - we do have some printed texts. There are even a couple of works on these CDs which may not be by Buxtehude at all. Koopman has included them so that we can enjoy them nevertheless; and then make up our own minds without the benefit of definitive scholarly conclusions.
 
Koopman suggests that these Abendmusiken occasions may have had the kind of selection of different styles, genres and durations, arrangements, scoring and formats that are presented on these CDs. Apart from Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg [CD.2 tr.2], none is particularly long: between five and ten minutes - to German, Swedish and Latin texts. Indeed, the variety of works here aids our appreciation significantly. It's performed in a pleasing order, too … little is known about the chronology of Buxtehude's works generally.
 
The music is neither cold, nor particularly seasonal. One of the first aspects of the music that the listener new to it will notice is the Italian influence. The brass writing in Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg [CD.1 tr.9], for example, could almost be by Gabrieli. Certainly by Schütz, who studied with him.
 
A key form is the strophic aria, which - like the other forms - makes use of instrumental, solo and choral passages and sections interspersed. These range from the direct to the highly sophisticated. The concerti, again, acknowledge the development in Italy of the form. It's tempting to think of these as ingredients in the emerging and more substantial cantata form, to which Buxtehude made significant contributions. In common with those of Bach, Buxtehude's cantatas (of which there are half a dozen or so here) contain chorales, arias and instrumental concerti - to biblical prose and poetic texts.
 
The soloists, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir are on top form. The articulation is idiomatic, the tempi are without exception convincing and the attention to detail is as thorough as if we knew the music intimately. Pahn, Dürmüller and Mertens perhaps stand out for their solid grasp of the need for and success in expressiveness. No maudlin or indulgence, but fully communicative performances, that bear many many listenings.
 
The CDs come with a highly informative booklet, notes and texts - in the originals and English. The acoustic of the Waalse Kerk, Amsterdam, is just right: there is enough atmosphere to complement the music; but not to overwhelm or disguise its impact. It almost goes without saying that, if you're already collecting this series, you shouldn't hesitate for a second before adding this instalment. If you're not, to begin here with the vocal works may surprise. It's highly likely to get you hooked and go looking for the earlier volumes. You won't regret it.
 
-- Mark Sealey, MusicWeb International

Includes work(s) by Dietrich Buxtehude. Ensembles: Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Ton Koopman. Soloists: Bogna Bartosz, Donald Bentvelsen, Jörg Dürmüller, Andreas Karasiak, Klaus Mertens, Patrick Van Goethem, Johannette Zomer, Bettina Pahn, Hugo Naessens.

Classical Music

Classical Music

BUXTEHUDE Membra Jesu Nostri • Harry Christophers, dir; The Sixteen • CORO COR 16082 (61:23 Text and Translation)


After a thorough look at the extensive representation of this work on disc ( Fanfare 31:5), we get a reissue of an earlier version first reviewed by colleague Michael Carter (25:5), who described as “a smattering of recordings” a Buxtehude discography that has embraced more than 80 of the 120 cantatas stretching back to 1937, a count that is now up to 90, with more than a dozen versions of some of the more familiar works. This version’s performing forces were almost exactly replicated by Alexander Weimann in that recent disc, with five solo singers, nine string players, and organ (Weimann had eight Baroque string instruments). While Weimann delivered one of the two fastest performances in my collection, Harry Christophers hits the median timing, never a bad thing in ranking any competitive series. The recent solo-voice performances include René Jacobs (both versions), Konrad Junghänel, and Jos van Veldhoven in addition to these two, so that will narrow the field for purists. Otherwise, there are some fine performances among the more recent versions cited in the previous review. If I had to limit my choice to a single version, however, it would be Harry Christophers and his sterling group of soloists.


FANFARE: J. F. Weber

REVIEWS:
American Record Guide (11-12/97, p.111) - "...The recording was made in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Treviso, where the reverberation makes both instrumental and vocal tone rich and sumptuous....On the whole, it is a performance that is technically assured, well-paced, and coherent, with more a chamber than church music feel..."

Classical Music

The names Bach and Buxtehude are inextricably linked in that the young German was deeply influenced by the older Danish keyboard virtuoso and Werkmeister. In fact, following his visit to Denmark in 1705, he allowed that, in retrospect, he had gone to hear Buxtehude "in order to comprehend one thing and another about his art". That this is in itself rather striking commentary from arguably the greatest composer in the history of Western Classical Music cannot be denied and speaks volumes on the importance of Buxtehude in evaluating the early Baroque period.
Diapason d'Or winner Lars Ulrik Mortensen, well known for his collaborations with John Holloway and Jaap ter Linden, among others, brings to Buxtehude's music a unique blend of virtuosity and scholarship in the area of performance practice. His playing, while astonishingly accurate and controlled, never gives the impression of being a calculated affair. His informed music making is inspired and breathes fresh life into every bar of this oeuvre. Worthy of note is Mortensen's handling of the cadenza-like arpeggio section in the Prelude in G Major; the building effect is breathtaking, the resolution exultant.
Gramophone (1/00, p. 85) - "...[Mortensen] arranges his programmes
effectively to illustrate the wide range of Buxtehude's art, though the
contrapuntal facility that drew Bach to trudge 200 miles to hear him is
everywhere apparent....enthusiastically recommended..."

Lively, tonally varied performances … a very attractive sound.

This is volume two of the Naxos reissue of Lars Ulrik Mortensen’s Buxtehude series. It previously appeared on Dacapo. This particular volume was Dacapo 8.224117.

Mortensen is a fine musician, whose approach to Buxtehude is vivacious and dignified in equal proportions. His Buxtehude has both passion and seriousness - but not solemnity - of mind. Mortensen makes sparkling use of the resources of his instrument, a copy by Thomas Mandrup-Poulsen of an original by Ruckers. Though the notes to this present CD give no further details, it sounds like the beautifully-toned instrument, made in 1984, which Mortensen played on some of his Bach recordings (CPO 999 989-2) and Froberger (Kontrapunkt 32040). It sings delightfully – at least it does when played by Mortensen! The use of mean-tone tuning will surely disturb very few modern listeners.

The theme of the set of variations on More Palatino (not More Palantino as printed on the back cover) is a student drinking song, though the rather stately form in which Buxtehude presents it is not especially redolent of the tavern. Still, it is an attractive and melodically various set, Mortensen’s varying use of registration producing some charming effects and some insistently dancing rhythms. The same is true of a second set of variations played here, those on Courant Zimble – a title we might translate as ‘Simple Courante’, and aptly so, since it is an uncomplicated piece which invites – and gets – some direct and appealing variations from Buxtehude. Mortensen resists the temptation to over-inflate these or make any excessive claims for them.

Each of the two Suites is made up four movements, in the order Allemande-Courante-Sarabande-Gigue. In each work the allemande is the most substantial movement, considerably longer than any of the other three movements. The allemandes also tend to have a greater musical gravity, that which opens Bux WV 242 being particularly grand in manner and phrasing; the courantes have, by way of contrast, a rippling vitality, that in Bux WV 25 being full of pleasant twists and turns. Buxtehude’s sarabandes have a graceful simplicity about them, a quality heard to perfection in Mortensen’s performances of the two in these suites, especially that in the E minor suite, where the registration is beautifully judged and employed. The gigues of the two suites make more much use of counterpoint, especially in comparison to the simpler lines of the sarabandes which precede them. But these are by no means academic fugues and in both suites the final movements very forcefully remember the dance origins of the gigue.

All of the shorter pieces in this programme have their genuine attractions and all are well characterised by Mortensen. The chorale ‘Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren’ is more often heard on the organ, although it makes no requirements that the harpsichord can’t fulfil – as Mortensen persuasively demonstrates. Indeed there is a particular sprightliness to this reading that is distinct from anything that can be achieved on the baroque organ and which offers an alternative, equally valid, view of the music. Bux WV 170, 171 and 174 are pieces which survive amongst the manuscripts of Buxtehude’s organ music but which, again, are eminently playable on the harpsichord. The fugal writing here is more ‘correct’ than in the gigues of the suites, but don’t let that make you imagine that these are unduly staid pieces. Here they have the same vivacity which characterises this programme as a whole and they are played with the same loving care for the aptness of instrumental sound and tone.

Without wanting to claim Mortensen’s as the ‘best’ recordings of Buxtehude’s harpsichord works – if one had to pick I suppose the vote might go to Ton Koopman – there is not the slightest reason to feel in any way dissatisfied with this fine recital. If you don’t know Buxtehude’s writing for harpsichord – this is an excellent value-for-money place to start; if you are already an aficionado of this repertoire you will surely be just as keen to add this to your collection.

-- Glyn Pursglove, MusicWeb International

The 19th, and penultimate, volume in Ton Koopman’s remarkable survey of Buxtehude’s Complete Works! This volume is also the ninth one in the series devoted to Buxtehude’s vocal works, with more gems to discover for all Baroque music lovers.

"Koopman varies them intelligently in this sequence of 10 numbers, and the performances have the unfussy directness that one associates with his music-making." - The Guardian

This is a Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players.