Dieterich Buxtehude (c. 1637 to 1639) was 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
Johann Sebastian Bach. Buxtehude, along with Heinrich
Schütz, is considered today to be one of the most
important German composers of...(+)
Dieterich Buxtehude (c. 1637 to 1639) was 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
Johann Sebastian Bach. Buxtehude, along with Heinrich
Schütz, is considered today to be one of the most
important German composers of the mid-Baroque.
Little is known – or rather everything is contested
– about the early life of Buxtehude. His date of
birth and the nation of origin are both among the
contested points. He is generally thought of as a
German composer (the most important of the mid-Baroque
period, and a powerful influence upon that late Baroque
master, Johann Sebastian Bach). But Denmark also claims
Buxtehude as one of its own. Whatever his nation or
dates, his work belongs to the world and to the ages.
Albert Schweitzer, in a classic early 20th century book
about Bach, paid incidental tribute to Buxtehude,
crediting him with the creation of large chorale
preludes in which he “tears the melody in pieces,
throws the fragments into the flood of a brilliant,
animated fantasia, and sends them scudding along …
according as his fancy suggests ….” Schweitzer
calls this a “virtuosic style” using those words he
assures us in their “good sense
Although originally created for Harpsichord, I created
this arrangement of the Allemande (Mvt. 1) of the Suite
in E-Minor for Concert (Pedal) Harp.
SHEET MUSIC