Hang Around the World: Music #328

Dietrich Buxtehude

[ˈdiːtəʁɪç bʊkstəˈhuːdə] (c.1638 – 1707)

A German-Danish 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 J.S. Bach.

St. Mary's Church

He was organist at St. Mary's Church (Marienkirche) in Lübeck for nearly 40 years. His organ works - Lutheran chlorales, wide-ranging improvisatory preludes, and the ostinato pieces - inspired young J.S. Bach, who walked (300 km) from Thuringia to Lübeck just to hear him play in the winter of 1705-6.

Organ at Marienkirche

Today, Buxtehude is considered one of the most important German composers of the mid-Baroque.

Preludes and toccatas

The 19 organ praeludia (or preludes) form the core of Buxtehude's work and are ultimately considered his most important contributions to the music literature of the 17th century.

Chorale settings

- top tracks
There are over 40 surviving chorale settings by Buxtehude, and they constitute the most important contributions to the genre in the 17th century.

Abendmusiken (evening concerts)

- church concerts on the 5 Sundays before X'mas,

just after the afternoon service

Ostinato works

The 3 ostinato bass works Buxtehude composed — 2 chaconnes (夏康舞曲-源於西班牙的優美舞蹈) and 1 passacaglia (巴沙加牙舞曲) — not only represent, along with Pachelbel's six organ chaconnes, a shift from the traditional chaconne style, but are also the first truly developed north German contributions to the development of the genre.

chaconne passacaglia