Buxtehude: Opera Omnia III [Import]

Koopman (Artist), Ton: org........... (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 4, 2007)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Challenge Classics
• ASIN: B000OV15GS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,496 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #28 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Sonatas > Canzones

Editorial Reviews

This recording contains some of the most mature, harmonically daring and most accomplished of Buxtehude's compositions, including BuxWV 139, 141, 146, 210 and 213. Since Buxtehude in his later organ works was oriented towards the innovations in harmonic temperament introduced by Andreas Werckmeister after 1680, the compositions on this CD were recorded on an organ tuned according to Werckmeister's system. Buxtehude himself was a theatrical personality, the church his theatre. To do his compositions justice we need a ÒmachoÓ playing style and virtuosity, but also emotion, fantasy, contrast, beautiful registers and a unique historical instrument. The splendid historic organ of Altenbruch is ideal for the later works of Buxtehude.

Dieterich Buxtehude (Dietrich, Diderich) was a German-Danish organist and a highly regarded composer of the baroque period. His organ works comprise a central part of the standard organ repertoire and are frequently performed at recitals and church services. He wrote in a wide variety of vocal and instrumental idioms, and his style strongly influenced many composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach. Organist at the Marienkirche in Lübeck for most of his life, Buxtehude is considered today to be the leading German composer in the time between Schütz and Bach.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Koopman Shines in Buxtehude's Organ Works, October 26, 2007

By 

Paul Van de Water (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Buxtehude: Opera Omnia III (Audio CD)

Buxtehude's organ works have been well treated by recording companies. Rene Saorgin (on Harmonia Mundi), Harald Vogel (on MD&G), Bine Bryndorf (on DaCapo), Hans Davidsson (on Loft, in progress), Wolfgang Rubsam et al. (on Naxos), and Walter Kraft (on Vox) have all set down the entire opus. Now comes the Dutch conductor and organist Ton Koopman, who is recording the organ compositions as part of the first complete set of all of Buxtehude's works (opera omnia).

Whether you are a long-time admirer of Buxtehude or would like to make his aquaintance, you will find Koopman's recordings of these organ pieces hard to resist. Koopman shines in the large, freely composed works (praeludia, toccatas, and chorale fantasias) and propels the music forward with tempos that are generally a bit faster than average. In the less flamboyant choral preludes, he maintains interest with a variety of registrations. Each volume in the series is recorded on a different historic organ, and the sound is top-notch.

Interestingly, Koopman has recorded this first volume of his cycle in 2006 on the same organ in Altenbruch, Germany, that Rene Saorgin used to record part of his traversal around 1970. The Saorgin recording still sounds great and provides more of the ambience of the venue. Saorgin's 5-CD set was out of print for a while but has recently been re-released René Saorgin Plays Buxtehude. You won't go wrong with either Saorgin or Koopman. Davidsson's recordings on the new north German baroque-style organ in Goteborg, Sweden, are good, too, but seem less inspired.

Volume 2 Dieterich Buxethude: Organ Works, Vol. 2 and volume 3 Complete Works 8: Organ Works of this cycle are now also available from Amazon. Volume 4 is available on the Challenge Classics website.