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.

In this cantata Buxtehude sets the sixth and seventh verses of the chorale "Christe, du bist der helle Tag", by Erasmus Alberus. The cantata is scored for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, two violins, violone, and continuo. As in many other cantatas with this scoring, Buxtehude places the melody of the chorale he uses in the soprano. The four-voice choir always sings as a unit; there are no sections of the cantata written for a soloist. Buxtehude ornaments the melody of the chorale a bit more than in many of his other cantatas with the same scoring, and changes the metric organization of the chorale tune from duple to triple time to separate the two verses of the chorale. He also concludes the cantata with a rich polyphonic Amen.

Source: AllMusic (https://www.allmusic.com/composition/befiehl-dem-engel -dass-er-komm-for-satb-voices-2-violins-violone-continu o-buxwv-10-mc0002384791).

Although originally composed for Chorus (SATB), 2 Violins, Violone & Continuo, I created this Interpretation of "Befiehl dem Engel daß er komm'" (Command the angel to come BuxWV 10) for Winds (Flute, Oboe, French Horn & Bassoon) and Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).