Buxtehude: Toccata in D minor, BuxWV155

Christopher Herrick’s acclaimed series of Buxtehude’s complete organ works continues with a selection of his praeludia, toccatas, ostinato works, and canzonas, interspersed with chorale preludes and variations. For this disc he turns to the magnificent organ of Trondheim Cathedral in Norway, originally built by Joachim Wagner (1690–1749) and restored to its former baroque glory in 1994.

Highlights from this disc include the brilliant, flamboyant Praeludium in G minor, BuxWV149. Here, as so often in Buxtehude’s organ works, one can picture an organist seated at a console completely free of music and giving his imagination full rein. Also, the Chorale Fantasia on Te Deum, BuxWV218, the only plainsong-based work on this CD and one of Buxtehude’s longest and grandest works for organ.

The era of the North German Baroque is a remarkable time in many respects. It continued the tradition kindled by Heinrich Schütz and brought it to full blossoming, while at the same time paving the way for the art of Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann. Both facets can be heard on the present recording: on the one hand, the influence of the free compositional style which superseded the strict contrapuntal technique of Palestrina’s music, that had taken flight in the realms of Florentine opera and from there found its way into church music and to Germany through the mediation of Heinrich Schütz; and the music of Georg Philipp Telemann, represented here by his cantata ‘Nach Finsternis und Todesschatten’ on the other.

The vocal works by Franz Tunder, Dietrich Buxtehude, Nicolaus Bruhns, Christoph Bernhard, and Georg Philipp Telemann which are recorded here, however, not only stand in close relation to the tradition from which they arose as well as to the musical aesthetics which they themselves developed, but also show manifold links amongst each other – especially through their composers and contexts. These vocal works are complemented by organ pieces by Georg Böhm and Dietrich Buxtehude, performed by Hauke Ramm, church music director and organist at St Wilhadi Stade, at his church’s high Baroque Bielfeldt organ. This is one of the largest instruments of its kind in North Germany, and was constructed by Erasmus Bielfeldt between 1731 and 1736.

The present recording with Gotthold Schwarz and the Sächsisches Barockorchester also takes into account the specific historical performance contexts of the North German Baroque. Such considerations are underlined by the use of appropriate instruments: the soloists of the Sächsisches Barockorchester play on period instruments.

This re-release presents toccatas written in the ‘stylus phantasticus’ alongside variations on songs. These works by Bruhns, Buxtehude, Bach, Böhm and Sweelinck, covering one and a half centuries, offer a fascinating insight into the North German baroque organ tradition.

The carefully chosen instrument (built in 1991 by Riegner & Friedrich in Riegel/Kaiserstuhl), though not a copy, is modelled on historic North German organs. High-quality workmanship as well as the artistic talent of the voicer makes for an instrument whose fresh and always transparent sound is immediately appealing: “The full organ sound is bright and balanced, and the basic stops possess a vocal quality characterised by that gentle energy which is indispensable for an organ epitomising a musical instrument in the true sense of the word.” (Musica sacra)

Gerhard Gnann was awarded many prizes at international competitions, including the Bach Competition Brügge (Bruges), the Swiss Organ competition and the Grand Prix “Dom zu Speyer” (“Speyer Cathedral”). In 1997 Gerhard Gnann was appointed professor for artistic organ playing at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. As an artist and teacher Gerhard Gnann is in high demand nationally and internationally, giving concerts and master classes e.g. in Italy, Poland, Norway, Denmark, France and Austria.

Masaaki Suzuki here performs a varied selection of Buxtehude’s organ works ranging from brief chorale preludes to the magnificent Te Deum Laudamus and the celebrated Ciaccona in E minor. Although he is most widely known for his on-going, highly praised series of Bach’s cantatas on BIS, Masaaki Suzuki in fact began his professional career as a church organist at the age of twelve, later studying the instrument both in Tokyo and in Amsterdam.

This is the tenth recording in the outstanding series of the complete works of Dieterich Buxtehude by Ton Koopman and the fifth and final part of the organ works. It presents a selection which contains the remainder of Buxtehude’s organ works of the two major categories, free and chorale-based compositions, alongside the complete organ works of Nicolaus Bruhns (1665-1697). Bruhns was Buxtehude’s most gifted pupil and was an important figure in the development of Buxtehude’s style of composition. Buxtehude’s organ works are his most significant contribution to the history of music. They consist of a comprehensive body of 90 compositions, of which more than half are chorale settings.

The organ featured on this 2-CD set is one of only two surviving organs by Erasmus Bielfeldt and has been restored on the basis of the great organ building art of the baroque in 1990 by Ahrend.

Ton Koopman is one of the world’s foremost early music keyboard specialists and directors. His recording of the complete Bach Cantatas received worldwide acclaim. He is president of the International Dieterich Buxtehude Society and one of the world’s leading authorities on his music.

Siegbert Rampe presents, Three World Premiere Recordings. The Toccata BuxWV 155, reconstructed by Rampe, along with Bach’s Pièce d’Orgue in G major BWV 572a, copied by the composer’s second cousin Johann Gottfried Walther around 1715. Finally the original version of the Toccata in F major BWV 540/1a, which has only recently been discovered.

Master organist, Siegbert Rampe, plays the Organ by Paul Fritts & Co, Tacoma/Washington 1992, after Arp Schnitger, in the Arizona State University, Tempe/USA