Includes work(s) for organ by Dietrich Buxtehude. Soloist: Hans Davidsson.

Includes work(s) for organ by Dietrich Buxtehude. Soloist: Julia Brown.

Dieterich Buxtehude’s chamber works today counts among the least known of his compositions. They were already forgotten soon after 1700, and this despite the fact that two third of Buxtehude’s chamber sonatas, unlike any other category in the composers creative output, were published during his lifetime. The publication of sonatas indicates that there was a market for this repertoire in the later 17th century. Moreover, the publication of two sets of such works suggests that the fame of the Lübeck master and the success of the first set must have created the demand for a second. However, the primary reason for these works getting out of fashion by the time of Buxtehude’s death was their unconventional instrumental scoring and, more importantly, the triumphant rise of the modern Italian trio sonata by Corelli, Albinoni, and others in the early 18th century. Buxtehude’s chamber music repertoire consists of altogether twenty-two works. All of Buxtehude’s chamber works present highly sophisticated compositions that belong among the most attractive and technically most demanding examples of the genre of ensemble sonata, then still in its infancy. They resemble in many ways the six sonatas of the Hortus musicus (Hamburg, 1688) by Buxtehude’s colleague and friend, Johann Adam Reinken, organist at St. Catherine’s Church in Hamburg. But like Reinken’s pieces, they were influenced by Italian models, especially the instrumental sonatas by the Venetian composer Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690), which were circulating widely also in Northern Europe. At the same time, they deeply reflect the improvisational, fanciful, expressive and colorful mannerisms of Buxtehude and his school, which the writer Johann Mattheson in1739 referred to as “stylus fantasticus”.

For this recording of music by Buxtehude, Jonathan Cohen, founder of the ensemble Arcangelo, is joined by a distinguished trio, including two regulars on the Alpha label, Sophie Gent and Thomas Dunford, alongside the gambist Jonathan Manson. Although Dietrich Buxtehude is famous above all for his organ music and cantatas, and for the long journey the young Bach undertook to meet him, his chamber music is virtually unknown. In the mid-1690s, at the height of his fame, Buxtehude published two collections in rapid succession, each comprising seven sonatas for violin, viola da gamba and basso continuo. It is the works of the first collection (1694) – designated Opus 1 in the print – that Arcangelo has recorded here. These sonatas are characterized by pronounced experimental features in both the scoring and the handling of the instruments.

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REVIEWS:

Arcangelo makes the most of Buxtehude’s highly imaginative counterpoint, at times emphasizing the arresting dissonances and dramatic cadences that will remind more than a few listeners of similar moments in Bach’s chamber music.

– All Music Guide

A factor that has allowed Arcangelo to be so adaptable is the ever-effective policy of employing to-rate musicians; and, with violinist Sophie Gent and gambist Jonathan Manson proving master of this music’s sometimes virtuoso demands and Thomas Dunford among the most sought-after continuo lutenists of the moment, the standards here are as high as ever.

– Gramophone

This exquisitely balanced recording instantly captures the sense of conversation between the instrumental parts, highlighting the egalitarian approach of Buxtehude's melodic writing. What's more, the content of these conversations allows us to glimpse the composer's esteemed artistic stature in miniature.

– BBC Music Magazine

This album is the final volume in the retrospective series featuring Finn Videro, undoubtedly the best Danish organist ever. This album features the legendary recordings on the 17th century Compenius organ together with the much sought after baroque German organ works. Also included is a rare live recording from Dallax, Texas from Videro’s teaching years. Viderø was born in Fuglebjerg, Næstved. He was the organist at the Reformed Church in Copenhagen from 1928 to 1941, the Jægersborg Church from 1942 to 1947, the Trinitatis Church in Copenhagen from 1947 to 1971 and St. Andreas Church in Copenhagen from 1971 to 1977. He was guest lecturer at Yale University and held an honorary doctorate from the University of Åbo in Finland. In 1933, he co-published with Oluf Ring a widely used organ primer. His organ playing was uncompromising and many believed that Viderø's musical interpretations were as close to the authentic, artistic and historical representation intended by the composer as one could get.

It is easy to imagine Dietrich Buxtehude’s enthusiasm when he received into his hands the texts to Membra Jesu Nostri, which has been ascribed to Bernard of Clairvaux. The text forms an account of the crucified limbs of Christ and its sensitive style relates strongly to sixteen and seventeenth century Pietism, the central focus of which is emotion and passionate expression. Membra Jesu Nostri has come to be known as Buxtehude’s possibly best vocal compilation, which is not surprising as it combines great intensity and fervor with his masterly ability to achieve vocal equilibrium in the most pleasing form. Solistensemblen Vox Scanienis has been active in the Malmo-Lund region for over 15 years. The ensemble was founded by Peter Wallin in connection with a television series production called Andetag (Breath) which was broadcast on Swedish television in 2002 and 2003. From the start the ensemble’s repertoire was comprised primarily by music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, but with time it has extended to include both Gregorian chants and contemporary musical pieces by Arvo Part, Johan Magnus Sjoberg, Olivier Messiaen and others.

The Ensemble and Choir Marc’Antonio Ingegneri of Cremona conducted by Vatio Bissolati propose an interesting and inspired live performance of Membra Jesu Nostri BuxWV 75, a cycle of seven cantatas composed by Dietrich Buxtehude in 1680, known as the first Lutheran oratorio. The feet, knees, hands, side, chest, heart and face of the crucified Christ are interpreted allegorically in each of the seven cantatas, that follow the scheme “instrumental introduction (Sonata) – choral movement with biblical texts (Concerto) – vocal solo (aria) – repetition of the choral movement” (Concerto).

Ulla Kappel was for years the leading Danish authority on the music by Buxtehude and Danacord was lucky to make this early LP release where Ulla Kappel plays some of the masterworks for harpsichord by Buxtehude. It is now available for the first time in new digital transfer. Also included are a few bonus tracks with never before released recordings featuring the Hungarian master organist János Sebestyén in music he never recorded commercially before. A must for all! Ulla Kappel was born in Munster, Westfalia, Germany in 1936 to Danish parents. She graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Copenhagen, with diplomas in piano, harpsichord and organ. Further studies in harpsichord in Paris and Basel, organ studies in Innsbruck and Muri. During the period 1968-1974 she was a teacher of the harpsichord at the Conservatory in Copenhagen; and from 1975 organist at Slangerup Church, the old church of the famous Danish poet and bishop Thomas Kingo, a contemporary of Buxtehude.

The sonata concertata form is perfectly illustrated in these trios by Dietrich Buxtehude which, according to Peter Wollny constitute ‘a landmark in the history of the sonata’. They provide a better understanding of a composer who has owed his fame chiefly associated to his cantatas and organ works, and to the admiration of the young Johann Sebastian Bach, who walked 400 kilometres to hear him play. After recording Buxtehude’s first set of chamber sonatas (ALPHA367), the musicians of Arcangelo (Sophie Gent, Jonathan Manson, Thomas Dunford and Jonathan Cohen) now revive the pieces from the second collection, published in 1696. It shows the multiple European influences (Baltic, Italian, German, French) that flourished in Lübeck, the north German city where Buxtehude worked as organist of the Marienkirche, but also in Hamburg, where the music was type set.

Following their ICMA award-nominated first album on Resonus (A Courtly Garland for Baroque Trumpet), period ensemble Orpheus Britannicus, with director Andrew Arthur, joins with The Chapel Choir of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and viol consort Newe Vialles for an impelling new recording of Buxtehude’s seminal and ground-breaking cycle of cantatas Membra Jesu nostri. With a distinguished lineup of soloists complementing this magnum opus, Arthur and his musicians give a gripping account of one of the most significant of early-Baroque oratorios. Orpheus Britannicus was founded by Andrew Arthur in 2002. Its players and singers are drawn from some of the UK’s leading performers in their field and the ensemble has developed a reputation for its expressive and historically informed approach to the rich vocal and instrumental chamber repertoire of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

All tracks have been digitally mastered using 24-bit technology.
Includes work(s) for organ by Dietrich Buxtehude. Soloist: Hans Davidsson.

BUXTEHUDE: Chamber Music (Complete), Vol. 1 - 7 Sonatas, Op.

BUXTEHUDE Complete Harpsichord Music • Simone Stella (hpd) • BRILLIANT 94312 (4 CDs: 279:10)


Decisions, decisions. Does one go with the four-CD set here on Brilliant, played with the proper style by Simone Stella, or the competing set—issued piecemeal, as is their wont—on Naxos by Lars Ulrik Mortensen? Although this set is titled Complete Harpsichord Music, it does not include the aria “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern,” BuxWV 223; the Prelude in G, BuxWV 162; or the Fugue in B?, BuxWV 176, which are in the Mortensen set. That’s because they were originally written for organ, so in a sense Stella is purer.


Be that as it may, there is a great deal to admire here. There’s no question that Stella has the proper Buxtehude style, which is to play with irregular meter and with the parts of both hands slightly out-of-synch much of the time, which creates a weird tension. He also dances and sparkles in several of the allemandes, particularly the one that begins the partida Auf meinen lieben Gott.


Stella is also excellent in the long sets of variations, given the deceiving titles of “arias,” in BuxWV 247 (“More Palatino”), BuxWV 246 (no title), and the more famous “La Capricciosa” (BuxWV 250), an astounding work for its time, a set of 32 variations that can rival some of Bach’s and Mozart’s in originality and complexity. I also love Stella’s daring in occasionally altering the sound of his harpsichord with the damper pedal, which makes the instrument sound very much like a lute. Of course, Mortensen is also a highly skilled harpsichordist, so in many ways I find their work complementary.


One online review of Buxtehude’s keyboard music claims that he wrote “both pedaliter and manualiter works,” but that his most famous pieces are the “praeludia and toccatas in the stylus phantasticus, which intermingles highly unpredictable free sections in virtuosic and idiomatic keyboard styles with more structured fugal sections.” How about that? I suppose this is how you write when you’re trying to impress your college professor, but I doubt whether any readers who are not professional musicians even know what a pedaliter or a manualiter is. (These terms actually refer to the organ, not the harpsichord, “manualiter” meaning works played only using the manuals and not the pedals.) I’m more interested in whether or not the music is creative, surprising, well crafted, and conveys some meaning to the listener. Buxtehude fulfills all those criteria for me, so that is why I love his pieces. Another feature of his work that I admire: There almost never seems to be even one superfluous note in anything he wrote. And yes, I can describe technically what’s going on in the music—how the notes for both hands contrast with or complement one another—without needing to break down a manualiter. I also prefer the description that one of my Fanfare colleagues gave of Buxtehude’s music when he called it “Bach in the raw.” That conveys far more to me than the stylus phantasticus in the pedaliter. How about you?


Perhaps the strongest element in Stella’s favor is the price. On ArkivMusic’s website, Brilliant is selling this boxed set for $19.99, while Mortensen’s single discs sell for $9.99 apiece. As for me, I give a very slight edge to Mortensen in performance quality, but not enough to warrant double the price. I say go for this one.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

Membra Jesu nostri consists of seven cantatas which graphically depict the suffering of Christ and the different parts of his tormented body. The surprising beauty and integrity of the cycle as a whole lies in its combination of the strict Protestant North German style with that of the Italian school, the symbiosis of mystical outbursts and dancing, transparent and almost ethereal textures. The Groningen-based Luthers Bach Ensemble recorded this in spring 2021, at the height of the pandemic, through which they have played as active a part in the city’s cultural scene as possible with socially distanced concerts and music-making. Formed in 2006, the LBE can call upon a pool of highly practiced early-music specialists in both voices and instruments, as well as the longer Dutch history of historically informed performance praxis. The stylistic pedigree of this new recording of Membra Jesu nostri places it alongside the great recordings of the cycle over the course of the last half-century. A fine balance is struck between the solemn piety of the cycle’s text and the assuaging pathos of its expression, with its many striking contrasts of solo and large-scale textures, its passionate outbursts and reflective melismas.