Buxtehude & Co.

What we present with this CD is a glimpse into the rich musical world of Dieterich Buxtehude and his contemporaries. These composers were active as Kapellmeisters and wrote music specifically to be performed during the concerts known as Abendmusiken or for various Collegia Musica. They were also associated with the Hamburg or North German School of the seventeenth century.

Originally established to entertain businessmen who assembled in the Marienkirche in Lübeck to await the opening of the stock exchange at noon on Thursdays, and most readily associated with the name of Buxtehude (Bad Oldesloe c1637 – Lübeck 1707), the concerts known as Abendmusiken most probably began as organ recitals during the tenure of Buxtehude’s predecessor Franz Tunder (1614-1667). Buxtehude’s legacy was the addition of an orchestra and choir and a rescheduling of the concerts from during the week, to five concerts on the Sundays between Martinmas (November twelfth) and Christmas, from 4:00 pm until 6:00 pm.

The Collegium Musicum was a musical association or society that was devoted to the playing and enjoyment of instrumental and vocal music. Such organizations were largely comprised of members from the upper echelons of society for example, doctors, lawyers, well-to-do merchants or members of local government who would meet at some central place or in their homes. Music was made either by the members themselves or by the local Kantor or the town musicians. Additionally, it was common to find collegia musica in established university towns such as Leipzig. Composers such as Matthias Weckmann (c1619 –1674) in Hamburg frequently had even bigger ambitions in mind when forming such an association, founding his great Collegium Musicum in the Cathedral of Hamburg in 166 0 with the express intention of presenting high-level concerts for the general public. Composers such as Buxtehude and others representing the North German School of the second half of the Seventeenth Century for example Weckmann, Johann Adam Reincken (1623-1722), Christoph Bernhard (1628-1692), and Johann Theile (1646-1724) is dominated by harmonic experimentation and musical structure (in the development, modulation and complexity of fugues). They were at the same time working with a manner of composing established in the early Seventeenth Century in Venice, best exemplified by the practice of writing pieces in short, contrasting sections, often homophonic adagios, interspersed with solo interludes as can be found in the music of Dario Castello (fl early 17th century). This not only presents a challenge to the players but also to the listeners who may not be familiar with this more transitional, experimental period in music history. For performers this music is especially demanding both technically and interpretively. To begin with, pieces containing both A-sharp and B-flat (Weckmann’s Sonata VI) present the player with a challenge when confronted with the quarter comma mean-tone tuning inherent in the instruments (in this temperament these are two different notes, as opposed to in equal temperament where they are enharmonic). In addition, the wide range in the scoring, for instance over two and a half octaves found in the trombone parts, stretches the ranges of the instruments to their limits. While the violin and the dulcian (as the bassoon) were to continue their development as sought after instruments for chamber music, the cornetto and trombone were about to be relegated to backseat roles in church ensembles accompanying singers, and as instruments used by the Stadtpfeifers.

Our choice of instrumentation was one of careful consideration. While we are faithful to the original scoring in the music of Weckmann, he along with other composers of the Hamburg school saw thetrombone as interchangeable with the gamba. Whether for musical reasons or simply to enable his compositions to be playable for additional combinations of instruments, this meant that he could sell more editions. It shows additionally that these two instruments had similar capabilities at the time this music was being written. Weckmann, having specified cornettino in his pieces, also gives the violin as an alternative for those parts. In the scoring of Buxtehude Cantatas, we find that the dulcian was often interchangeable with the violone. As the music of Becker was published in Hamburg at exactly the time that Weckmann was active in that city, we have chosen to treat their music in the same vein regarding the use of instrumentation. For the music of Theile, originally specified for two violins, trombone, dulcian and basso continuo, we have chosen instead to use cornetto and violin. The use of both organ and harpsichord in the basso continuo provides an additional color change to help bring out the contrasting sections found in these compositions. In addition, the harpsichord in particular provides rhythmical support. In pieces containing both sharps and flats, switching between the two instruments also facilitates using quarter-comma meantone temperament in music that is at times inherently chromatic.

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Of Danish or German origin, the renowned organist and composer Dieterich Buxtehude received his early musical training from his father who was an organist and schoolmaster, taking over the position of the same in 1657/58 at the church at Helsingborg. Following the demise of Franz Tunder in 1667, the organ position in the Marienkirche in Lübeck became vacant. Buxtehude was chosen for the position as well as that of Werkmeister (secretary, treasurer and business manager) on 11 April 1668. Continuing a practice not unknown at the time, he married Anna Margarethe Tunder, the daughter of his predecessor. Buxtehude’s duties at the Marienkirche included both the main morning and afternoon services on Sundays and feast days, Vespers on the preceding afternoon, and customary preludes to the congregational chorales and musical offerings of the choir. He also supplied music during the communion, often with the participation of instrumentalists or singers who were in the employ of the church. A faithful employee of the church for forty years, Buxtehude is known for his reinstatement of Tunder’s practice of holding concerts in the church or Abendmusik.

Contemporaries of Buxtehude lamented the fact that none of his keyboard music was ever published during his lifetime. The works that do survive are preserved in very few manuscripts. The Ryge-manuscript in the Royal Library in Copenhagen contains only twentythree of the twentysix harpsichord works that are attributed to him including the twelve-movement Aria More Palatino, based on a popular Seventeenth Century folk tune.

In contrast to his keyboard music, Buxtehude’s only major publication during his lifetime were collections of his chamber music, including two extant prints from 1694 and 1696, each containing seven sonatas for violins, viola da gamba, and harpsichord continuo. The structure of these sonatas is largely based on contrasts in tempo and texture. At least half of the sonatas contain one ostinato movement on the passacaglia bass with the gamba part, here played on the trombone, playing divisions on this bass. The contrapuntal movements, as to be expected, are fugal.

There were two main schools of composition in late Seventeenth Century Germany: that in the North, and the other encompassing the Central and Southern areas of the country. The North German school centred around Hamburg and in particular Matthias Weckmann. He was a student of Heinrich Schütz, and went to Hamburg to continue his studies with Jacob Praetorius. He became quickly involved in the musical life in the city and was appointed organist of the St Jakobikirche in 1655. His most important contribution was to found the Hamburg Collegium Musicum in 1660. This was a group of local musicians who gave concerts every Thursday in the refectory of the cathedral, (the first public concerts to be held in Hamburg) performing the best compositions that were being produced not only in other German cities, such as Munich and Dresden, but also further a field - Vienna, Rome and Venice. The Collegium was made up of singers from the local churches as well as instrumentalists from the ‘Ratsmusikanten’ (the city’s official instrumentalists), and as well composers who were keen to be associated with the Collegium. Amongst Weckmann’s colleagues were Christoph Bernhard, Heinrich Scheidemann and Adam Reincken. Despite its success and popularity, the Hamburg Collegium Musicum did not survive beyond Weckmann’s death.

Weckmann’s instrumental chamber output consists of ten sonatas, dating from around 1670, extraordinary pieces written for cornettino, violin, trombone, dulcian and continuo. A true ‘broken consort’, but one in which the unique characteristics and strengths of the instruments are demonstrated while they are at the same time treated as equals. They are given very similar, if not identical lines to execute; the trombone having to play the same leaping intervals with the speed and ease of the violin, and the dulcian expected to play as sweetly and melodically as the cornettino. These instruments contrast greatly, yet balance perfectly within these sonatas, even whilst negotiating fiendishly virtuosic lines. All the instruments are given short solo passages, but come together as a true ensemble in many homophonic sections. The harmonic language is continually shifting; the melodies are short and fragmented, passing quickly from one part to another. These strange but exciting works are seen as an indication of what the instrumentalists of the time were capable of. They were an example to other composers and even to today’s performers of the limits to which the players and instruments can be taken.

Dieterich Becker (1623 – 1671) although born in Hamburg, left the city to hold various positions as both organist and violinist in Stockholm and Celle. He left Celle to visit Lübeck and Hamburg in 1662 but never returned, eventually becoming a citizen of Hamburg. He worked his way up steadily, starting out as a town musician, becoming director of them in 1668. He was also a member of Weckmann’s Collegium Musicum, which he eventually led. He was a fine organist, but none of his keyboard works survive. Becker was also one of the most highly regarded violinists in Northern Germany at the time, and his collections of string music, although containing no works for solo violin, do include many examples of fine writing for the instrument and solo passages within the chamber sonatas.

Known for his skill as a contrapuntist, Johann Theile (1646-1724) began and ended his life in Naumburg, Germany. He was considered by fellow composers as “the father of contrapuntists”, having written six treatises devoted to the subject, and the use of polyphonic textures are dominant in his music. After having his early musical training with Johann Scheffler, Kantor of Magdeburg, Theile attended the University of Leipzig as a law student from 1666. He was an integral member of the university’s collegium musicum, taking part as a singer and on the gamba. He also had the opportunity to study with the senior Gabriel Schütz at this time. Professional appointmentsincluded that of Kapellmeister at Gottdorf rom 1673 and Kapellmeister at Wolfenbüttel from 1685 to 1691. He was also fortunate enough to be employed by the music loving Duke Christian Albrecht I at Merseberg, whose appreciation for the art drew outstanding musicians of the day to his court. Theile was a respected teacher, taking on pupils both in Merseberg and Wolfenbüttel. While it is assumed by some that he taught Dieterich Buxtehude, it is more likely that they were good friends. While Theile published his own catalogue of his sacred works in 1725, the remainder of his works circulated mainly as manuscripts, with very few of them being issued in printed editions.

The German keyboard player Johann Philipp Krieger (Nuremberg baptized 1649-Weissenfels 1725) was fortunate to be able to study with many of the renowned composers of his day. His early harpsichord lessons were with Johann Drechsel (Dretzel) a pupil of Johann Jacob Froberger (1616-1667) one of the distinguished keyboard composers of the midseventeenth century. He also had lessons with Gabriel Schütz (1633-1710). Further instruction followed at the age of fourteen or sixteen with the royal Danish organist Johannes Schroeder in Copenhagen, and composition with Kaspar Forster.

The Margrave Christian Ernst at Bayreuth employed Krieger as court organist. A fortunate result of his employer’s departure for the war with France in 1673 was Krieger’s opportunity to travel to Italy without a loss of salary. It was there that he studied composition with Johann Rosenmüller (c1619-1684), and Giovanni Battista Volpe (c1620-1691). In Rome he studied composition with Antonio Maria Abbatini (1609/10-c1679) and Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1710). Krieger was further employed by Duke Johann Adolph I as Kapellmeister at the court in Weissenfels from 1680 until his death, where he provided the court with both sacred and secular music.

Caecillia-Concert