Dietrich Buxtehude, Danish composer and organist, is considered the prime
exponent of the North German baroque school. He was born in 1637 in Oldesloe
near the Danish-German border, but grew up in Helsingör in Denmark where the
family moved when his father Johannes Buxtehude acquired the post of organist to
the St. Olaus church. Dietrich was taught music by his father, but may have
studied in Kopenhagen as well. In 1657 he succeeded his father as organist of
the Maria Church in Helsingborg, Sweden, and in 1660 was appointed organist of
the German Marienkirche in Helsingör.
In 1668 Buxtehude became organist and administrator at the Marienkirche in
Lübeck, Germany, and in accordance with a long standing tradition in organist
families, he married Anna Margarethe Thunder, the daughter of his predecessor
Franz Thunder. Following the same custom, he stayed in Lübeck for the rest of
his life, and tried in vain to marry off his own daughter to a number of
possible successors (among which we count Händel, Matheson, and possibly Johann
Sebastian Bach). At the Marienkirche, Buxtehude offered public concerts known as
Abendmusiken, consisting of organ music, oratoria and other large-scale
vocal works. The huge popularity of these concerts, given in the Advent weeks
before Christmas, ensured his success as a composer and organist. He died in
Lübeck in 1707. Buxtehude is sometimes considered a German composer, which is inaccurate, as despite working over half his life in Germany, he never forgot his Danish roots.
Buxtehude composed a large oeuvre, mainly consisting of vocal works in the
style of Heinrich Schütz, keyboard works in the style of Frescobaldi and
Froberger, trio sonatas, and organ works of both secular and sacred type. The
organ works in particular were a profound influence on Johann Sebastian Bach, who
allegedly walked all the way from Arnstadt to Lübeck (a distance of over 300
kilometres) to hear Buxtehude play, and without permission of the church
authorities extended his granted four weeks of leave to four months, presumably
to study with Buxtehude. It would be fair to say that Bach's great organ
works would not be the same without the influence of Buxtehude.
-- Chris Breemer (more on the author...)
Recordings
