The Classical Music Book

79

An Allegory of Friendship by Dutch

artist Johannes Voorhout shows

Buxtehude leaning on his elbow.

Among the other musicians is the

harpsichordist Johann Adam Reincken.

BAROQUE 1600 –1750

Sweelinck (1562–1621) and his pupil

Samuel Scheidt (1587–1654), but

while Scheidt often presented

the tune of the chorale in slower,

unornamented notes and wove the

variations around it, Buxtehude

made the chorale melody itself the

clearest and most ornamented line,

with the variations being simpler.

Buxtehude’s prelude on Ein feste

Burg ist unser Gott, composed

around 1690, is a perfect example

of this approach. The right hand

presents a spontaneous-sounding

solo melody that follows the contour

of the chorale tune. The chorale

itself is made clearer by the fact

that each of its notes is either

held for longer than the decorative,

improvisatory notes that connect

them, or is presented as the first

(and “strongest-sounding”) of a

collection of four notes.

The accompaniment in the

left hand and pedals is generally

in two- or three-part harmony,

sometimes using motifs from the

chorale melody and interweaving

See also: Plainchant 22–23 ■ Magnus liber organi 28–31 ■ Great Service 52–53 ■ Pièces de clavecin 82–83 ■

St. Matthew Passion 98–105 ■ The Art of Fugue 10 8 –111 ■ Elijah 170 –173

them imitatively, while at other

times opting for a chordal approach.

In this manner the tune is

presented once from beginning

to end. This particular style of

setting influenced J.S. Bach,

who followed a similar model

in his Chorale Preludes. ■

Dieterich Buxtehude

It is uncertain exactly when

and where Dieterich Buxtehude

was born, but by his early

childhood, his family was living

in Helsingborg (in modern-day

Sweden), from where they later

moved to Helsingør in Denmark.

It was there that Buxtehude

learned his musical craft from

his organist father.

After working at his father’s

former church in Helsingborg

and then at St. Mary’s church in

Helsingør, in 1668 Buxtehude

accepted the prestigious

position of organist at St. Mary’s

in Lübeck. Tradition held that

new organists should marry a

daughter of their predecessor,

an obligation that Buxtehude

fulfilled within weeks of taking

up office. He retained his role as

organist of Lübeck until his

death in 1707.

Other key works

1680 Membra Jesu Nostri

c.1680 Praeludium in C major

1694 Trio Sonatas, Op. 1

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