Dietrich Buxtehude is probably most familiar to modern
classical music audiences as the man who inspired the
young Johann Sebastian Bach to make a lengthy
pilgrimage to Lubeck, Buxtehude's place of employment
and residence for most of his life, just to hear
Buxtehude play the organ. But Buxtehude was a major
figure among German Baroque composers in his own right.
Though we do not have copies of much of the work that
most impressed his contemporaries, Buxtehude
nonetheless left behind a body of v...(+)
Dietrich Buxtehude is probably most familiar to modern
classical music audiences as the man who inspired the
young Johann Sebastian Bach to make a lengthy
pilgrimage to Lubeck, Buxtehude's place of employment
and residence for most of his life, just to hear
Buxtehude play the organ. But Buxtehude was a major
figure among German Baroque composers in his own right.
Though we do not have copies of much of the work that
most impressed his contemporaries, Buxtehude
nonetheless left behind a body of vocal and
instrumental music which is distinguished by its
contrapuntal skill, devotional atmosphere, and raw
intensity. He helped develop the form of the church
cantata, later perfected by Bach, and he was just as
famous a virtuoso on the organ.
The word "praeambulum" means the same thing as
praeludium and this work is no different than his
praeludia. It opens with a free toccata passage
followed by two imitative fugal sections and concludes
with a segment of free passage work. The two fugues are
thematically related, the second fugue subject is a 6/4
version of the common time subject of the first
fugue.
Historically, Buxtehude's organ music has been studied
because of its direct influence on Bach; Buxtehude
wrote the first truly idiomatic fugues for the organ
and was one of the first to experiment with the
structure that Bach later codified into the prelude and
fugue. Buxtehude is generally considered the greatest
organist between Scheidt and Bach and is regarded as
the originator of the German organ toccata. However, in
addition to the keyboard music that so impressed his
contemporaries, he also wrote some extraordinary works
for trios involving the viola da gamba. His vocal works
shared the devotion and intellectual rigor of his
instrumental work, and were also much admired.