Buxtehude: Suite in E, BuxWV 235

Having been born half a century after Heinrich Schütz, the ‘father of German musicians’, and a little less than half a century before J. S. Bach, Dietrich Buxtehude was a living link between the founder of Protestant Baroque music and its greatest master. While Buxtehude’s organ music is comparatively well known, his harpsichord music has not yet found the reputation it deserves. In this second volume of his Harpsichord Music (Volume One is available on Naxos 8.570579) we are treated to a range of compositional styles and moods, from the domestic intimacy of the Suites in G minor and E minor, to the student drinking-song used for the More Palatino variations, and the lilting arrangement of the chorale Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren.

The original Dacapo release of this disc won a Cannes Classical award

Dietrich Buxtehude (c.1637–1707) spent his career working as an organist in churches, but was also a prolific composer of secular instrumental music and wrote far more for harpsichord than most composers of his era.

Buxtehude’s position in Lübeck and fame as an organist brought him into contact with many of the greatest musicians of his day, and his style demonstrates the variety of musical influences that he was exposed to, particularly from German and Italian repertoire, which he combined to create a unique personal style.

This set of 4 CDs collects together Buxtehude’s complete music for harpsichord, including suites in the popular French style, several works that can be played effectively on both organ and harpsichord (including preludes, fugues, canzonas and choral elaborations), and variations on arias, which showcase the composer’s creativity and ability to compose music in a variety of styles.

Among the works featured are two new authentic harpsichord suites, discovered in 2004 and 2005, and the monumental La Capricciosa, one of the largest and most innovative solo keyboard works of the 17th century. Performed by Simone Stella, who has previously played Buxtehude’s complete organ music in a series of concerts, this collection is a comprehensive overview of the harpsichord music of a composer seen by many as J.S. Bach’s true predecessor.