Reviewed by John Irvine

For years the statement that Bach's early organ works were influenced by Buxtehude has often been made; but in recent years people have begun to see Buxtehude as a major figure in his own right, as an organ and cantata composer scarcely less prolific than Bach, and as an organist and composer of organ music, perhaps even more influential than Bach in this field. After all, the young Bach took four weeks off work to "comprehend one thing or another" about Buxtehude by visiting him in Lubeck. In fact, he found that he had to stay at least four months to learn everything he wanted! Dietrich Buxtehude was of Danish origin, born around 1637, but spent almost all of his working life in Germany, and certainly the most creative years of his life at the Church of St Mary in Lubeck where he remained until his death in 1707. He occupies a vitally important role in the development of organ and church music, acting as a bridge between the Italian Renaissance composers of the 16th century and the German Baroque composers of the late 17th century. Since the reformation the organ had begun to play an increasing role in church services, particularly in the performance of chorale preludes where the organ would take the lines of well known melodies in turn, embellishing it and exploring its possibilities for development and variation before moving on to the next line, a process which was considered an aide to worship, since the congregation would recognise the original melody and the variations on the organ were designed to increase the lay person's understanding of the text of the hymn. This collection -the last in Spang-Hanssen's six disc survey of Buxtehude's surviving organ music - covers the liturgical period of Trinity, ie, from Pentecost to Advent. Of particular interest to fans of organ music and of Baroque music is the inclusion of Buxtehude's longest work, "Te Deum Laudamus", a musical tour de force which compliments the shorter works on the disc. An excellent collection and a delight to listen to. Explore and enjoy.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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