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.
-- Chris Breemer (more on the author...)
