Baroque Composers II - Buxtehude

Now to look at Dietrich Buxtehude. Like Frescobaldi, I first heard of Buxtehude while reading 1001 Classical Recordings to Hear Before you Die – and again I still haven’t heard said recording, or much of his stuff at all. Coincidentally, I did hear part of his Trio Sonata in C minor on the radio recently and it was a beautiful piece. Then today I heard his setting of the Magnificat which was quite a nice choral piece.

Buxtehude was born in Denmark , where exactly is a contentious subject, but lived most of his life in Germany . Also like Frescobaldi, he was primarily an organist and held the post at Lubeck in northern Germany . Unlike Frescobaldi, most of his keyboard works are specifically for the organ. His organ music was highly influential, having a particular sway over the young Johann Sebastian Bach. In fact, Bach took leave from his job and went on a long journey of several months just to hear Buxtehude play.

He also wrote a lot of choral music but much of this is now lost including many oratorios which are thought to have been models for later works by Bach and Telemann. Some shorter works survive and these have had a bit of a revival in modern times. I guess the Magnificat is one of those; there are a number of versions of it on YouTube, here is one by the St Matthias Church Choir, Montreal which seems a good recording. To my ears I guess I can see how it's a proto-Bach but don't ask me to explain that.

I have a similar reaction to some of his organ music. Take this Toccata in D minor (played here on a modern organ by A Schnitger in Norden), it has something of the drama of JS Bach's Toccata in D minor but isn't on the same level. Not that it's attempting the same thing, but while it is a nice piece of music it sounds to me quite basic (I don't mean easy) compared to Bach's work. What I mean is, Buxtehude has the foundations but Bach has built upon them to perfect the form. Perhaps Buxtehude is the giant upon whose shoulders Bach sat but that would be a titan on a giant and liable to squash him. Which may be why Buxtehude is not so well known these days.

A more notable work is his Passacaglia in D minor, which is considered one of his most important. When I hear this I don't think so much of proto-Bach, this is a work of brilliance in its own right. It seems probable it influenced Bach (especially his Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor) but its beauty as a piece outweighs any simple role in the evolution of another's music.

I'll finish however with this Trio Sonata in A minor performed by the Boston Museum Trio. It starts out with a melancholic beauty quite remarkable in its emotional intensity for its time then heads into a lively interchange of the three instruments. Chamber music is a wonder and this is a brilliant example of it. Alas, it's from his Opus 1 which can't be voted for in the Classic 100 but his Opus 2 set can. I missed the nomination period so I can't complain on any absences. I'll have to check the Opus 2 set out, if it's as good as this it will definitely be on my shortlist.

Baroque Composers I - Frescobaldi

I’m going to start my survey of Baroque and earlier composers with Frescobaldi for no particular reason. I know the name because of 1001 Classical Recordings to Listen to Before You Die, but, while I’ve found the recording mentioned on Classicsonline, I’ve never listened to it because it’s two hours of harpsichord music and I have trouble listening to that particular keyboard for that long; I may have to work on my tolerance.

Girolamo Frescobaldi was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque and it seems an important figure in the transition from one to the other, at least in terms of keyboard music. His main job was actually as an organist and he held prominent positions during his lifetime, most notably at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, but he also worked for an Archbishop and a Cardinal or two. Surprisingly he didn’t publish much church music however.

His major works are collections of keyboard pieces like Ricercars and Canzones, which were older forms that eventually evolved into Fugues and Sonatas respectively, and a book of liturgical organ music, Fiori musicali. It was highly influential and pieces from it were used in the teaching of counterpoint for at least a century.

He was quite innovative in terms of tempo as well, bringing more colour to instrumental music which had previously been much in the shadow of vocal music. His influence lasted long after his death in 1643 and can be seen in the works of no less than Pachabel, Purcell and JS Bach, who copied the Fiori musicali for his own use – as in he wrote it out note by note so he had his own copy of the score.

Particular note should be made of his two books of Toccatas (1615 and 1627). They follow the same structure but the development in his use of rhythm is indicative of the broadening of instrumental music in the period.

So clearly he was an influential composer, but what is his stuff like to listen too? Looking to YouTube once again I've found a lot of long entries of complete sets rather than individual canzones or toccatas.

I started with his first book of Toccatas performed by Roberto Loreggian, it appears to be disc one of a Brilliant Classics release. Most of the toccatas are played on the harpsichord but the last couple are on the organ and I have to say I really do appreciate the former better now. I can't imagine these pieces being as good on a modern piano either, I think they'd lose a certain amount of warmth and colour. The pieces are highly virtuosic in parts but shift suddenly in tempo quite regularly, it's something of a feature that keeps the listener from becoming bored. The organ pieces didn't really do it for me and sounded somewhat off.

To be honest that's all I've managed to listen to so far and I've been sitting on this blog for over a week. There's more out there though and I'll be getting into it for sure. For now, it's time to move on. Enjoy - and keep exploring!

Bach's Birthday

The Bach family was huge and there are plenty of composers bearing the name, but if we ever hear the name referred to by itself we all know which Bach we’re talking about, Johann Sebastian. An undeniable genius in his craft and one of the foundation stones of Western music. And it’s his birthday, so to celebrate here’s a YouTube clip of three of my favourite pieces by the man himself, starting with what must be one of the most dramatic and iconic of all solo organ pieces, the Toccata and Fugue in D minor. This often reminds me of the image of the austere and mysterious hermit who plays the organ in passion while hatching his mad schemes of revenge or world domination.

Next, the opening of the fourth Brandenburg Concerto. One of my earliest albums – a cassette – was of these concertos and they remain, in my mind, one of the greatest of all orchestral works.

Finally, what would the world be with JS Bach’s Cello Suites? Considerably poorer I believe and that much less peace. Here’s the prelude to No 1.