Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

A prolific composer of both sacred and secular music, Dietrich Buxtehude (1637 - 1707) wrote over 120 cantatas for St Mary's, Lübeck, where he had the prestigious and highly paid position of Werkmeister. Both the young J S Bach and Georg Handel travelled to hear Buxtehude play the organ, which was considered to be his greatest talent. To be sure, Buxtehude was a talented composer but the fact is he does not come out well from any comparison with Bach or Handel. I enjoyed this CD: the three soloists - Matthew White, countertenor; Katherine Hill, soprano, and Paul Grindley, bass - are excellent and the members of the Aradia Ensemble play their period instruments very well. However, when I come to file this under "B" it will sit just below the Bach family section and, musically speaking, a long way below Johann Sebastian. The two featured cantatas, out of the seven on the disc, are "Jubilate Domino" and "Sicut Moses". There is one instrumental piece, a glorious "Passacaglia" that I may well return to in the future but the vocal works, for all the technical accomplishment in both writing and singing, are nothing special.

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