94312_Buxtehude_Harpsichord Music_BL2 v3_BRILLIANT CLASSICS 04/11/2011 11:56 Page 2
Dieterich Buxtehude c.1637–1707 Complete Harpsichord Music Compact Disc 1
Aria ‘Rofilis’ in D minor BuxWV248 1 Variatio 1 – Variatio 3 2’12
6 7 8 9 10
Suite in G BuxWV240 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande IV. Gigue
2’27 2’07 1’43 1’02
Suite in E minor BuxWV237 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande I IV. Sarabande II V. Gigue
3’01 1’36 2’48 1’50 1’38
11 Courante in D minor BuxWV Anh.6 1’41 12 13 14 15 16 17
2
Suite in D minor BuxWV234 I. Allemande II. Double III. Courante IV. Double V. Sarabande I VI. Sarabande II
2’40 2’26 2’52 1’31 2’25 1’54
2’16 1’44
20 21 22 23 24
Auf meinen lieben Gott in E minor BuxWV179 I. Allemande II. Double III. Corrente IV. Sarabande V. Gigue
0’55 0’57 0’42 1’25 0’45
25 26 27 28
Suite in C BuxWV230 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande IV. Gigue
2’21 1’52 1’44 1’43
29 30 31 32
Suite in G minor BuxWV242 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande IV. Gigue
2’37 1’20 1’54 1’19
64’25
Volume 1
2 3 4 5
Suite in D BuxWV232 18 I. Allemande 19 II. Courante
33 Canzona in C BuxWV166
Compact Disc 2
4’40
72’27
Volume 2 Aria ‘More Palatino’ in C BuxWV247 1 Variatio 1 1’15
1’21 1’22 1’00 1’05 1’18 0’50 1’35 1’06 0’55 1’14 2’20
28 III. Sarabande 29 IV. Gigue
Suite in G minor BuxWV241 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande IV. Gigue
2’47 1’52 2’07 0’57
37 Praeludium in G minor BuxWV163 7’00
17 18 19 20 21
Suite in C BuxWV228 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande IV. Double V. Gigue
2’53 1’30 1’50 1’34 1’40
22 23 24 25
Suite in A minor BuxWV deest I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande IV. Gigue
2’46 1’49 3’21 1’10
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Variatio Variatio Variatio Variatio Variatio Variatio Variatio Variatio Variatio Variatio Variatio
13 14 15 16
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Suite in A BuxWV243 26 I. Allemande 27 II. Courante
2’46 1’48
30 31 32 33
2’18 2’00
Suite in D minor (ed. E. Roger, 1710) I. Allemande 2’25 II. Courante 1’32 III. Sarabande 2’22 IV. Gigue 1’34
Suite in C BuxWV229 34 I. Allemande 35 II. Courante 36 III. Sarabande
Compact Disc 3
2’17 1’32 2’57
72’37
Volume 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Aria in C BuxWV246 Aria Variatio 1 Variatio 2 Variatio 3 Variatio 4 Variatio 5 Variatio 6 Variatio 7 Variatio 8 Variatio 9 Variatio 10
1’10 1’28 1’17 1’10 1’37 0’53 0’54 0’59 1’35 1’58 1’23 3
94312_Buxtehude_Harpsichord Music_BL2 v3_BRILLIANT CLASSICS 04/11/2011 11:56 Page 4
Suite in E minor BuxWV235 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande IV. Gigue
3’52 2’32 2’28 2’24
Aria in A minor BuxWV249 16 Variatio 1 17 Variatio 2 18 Variatio 3
2’20 1’27 1’33
12 13 14 15
19 20 21 22
2’22 1’21 1’54 1’06
23 24 25 26 27
Suite in C BuxWV226 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande I IV. Sarabande II V. Gigue
2’47 2’04 1’53 1’58 1’42
29 30 31 32
4
Suite in A minor BuxWV244 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande IV. Gigue
36 Toccata in G BuxWV165
Compact Disc 4
2’45 1’40 2’08 3’44
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
4’01 3’06 1’05 1’59 2’38
9 10 11 12
Courante zimble in A minor BuxWV245 Variatio 1 Variatio 2 Variatio 3 Variatio 4 Variatio 5 Variatio 6 Variatio 7 Variatio 8
0’50 0’50 0’45 0’52 1’18 1’00 1’34 1’01
Suite in F BuxWV238 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande IV. Gigue
2’49 1’38 1’51 1’16
Suite in D minor BuxWV233 13 I. Allemande d’Amour 14 II. Courante
15 III. Sarabande d’Amour 16 IV. Sarabande II 17 V. Gigue
2’16 1’41 1’17
18 19 20 21
Suite in C BuxWV227 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande IV. Gigue
2’58 2’12 2’00 1’42
22 23 24 25
Suite in E minor BuxWV236 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande IV. Gigue
3’09 1’50 2’10 1’47
26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
Aria ‘La Capricciosa’ Partite diverse sopra una aria d’Inventione in G BuxWV250 Partita 1 Partita 2 Partita 3 Partita 4 Partita 5 Partita 6 Partita 7 Partita 8
1’00 1’02 0’51 0’40 0’45 0’34 0’32 0’48
69’41
Volume 4
Suite in F BuxWV239 I. Allemande II. Courante III. Sarabande IV. Gigue
28 Canzona in D minor BuxWV168
Suite in C BuxWV231 33 I. Allemande 34 II. Courante 35 III. Sarabande
34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57
Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita Partita
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
0’29 0’43 0’48 1’22 0’54 0’46 1’02 0’40 1’22 0’38 0’36 0’49 0’42 0’41 0’37 0’56 2’03 0’36 1’03 0’32 0’34 0’34 0’29 0’55
Simone Stella harpsichord 2’46 1’37
Harpsichord based on Johannes Ruckers (Antwerp 1638)
5
94312_Buxtehude_Harpsichord Music_BL2 v3_BRILLIANT CLASSICS 04/11/2011 11:56 Page 6
Buxtehude: Complete Harpsichord Music The Composer The year and country of Dieterich Buxtehude’s birth are uncertain and disputed. Since he spent his early years in Helsingborg, Skåne, now in Sweden but part of Denmark at the time, he is generally considered a Danish composer, but some claim that he was born in Oldesloe in the Duchy of Holstein, which, now in Germany, was originally a part of the Danish Monarchy. Buxtehude was born with the name Diderich, but germanised it later to Dieterich. His early years and birthplace remain a mystery. Most scholars agree that Buxtehude studied music with his father Johann, who proved to be a great influence on the young composer; Johann served as organist at St. Mary’s Church in Helsingborg from roughly 1633 and then at St. Olai’s Church in Helsingør (Denmark), where his family moved in 1641, and these musical activities resulted in Buxtehude’s exposure to the organ at a young age. Dieterich took the post of organist at St. Mary’s Church in Helsingborg, his father’s former job, in 1658 and became the organist at St. Mary’s Church in Helsingør in 1660. In the years following this appointment only a visit to Copenhagen in 1666 is documented, until the composer moved to Lübeck in April 1668, where he became the organist of St. Mary’s Church (which had two organs, a large one for big services and a small one for devotionals and funerals), succeeding Franz Tunder who died in November 1667. Buxtehude married Tunder’s daughter Anna Margarethe, following a common practice that a man marry the daughter of his predecessor. Buxtehude’s post in the free imperial city of Lübeck afforded him a great latitude in his musical career and his autonomy served as a model for the careers of many of the later Baroque masters. Musicians from everywhere came to the city to meet the composer and attend his concerts. In 1673 Buxtehude reorganised a series of evening musical performances for the general public that had been initiated by Tunder, known as ‘Abendmusik’. These performances took place during the last two Sundays of Trinity and the second, third, and fourth Sundays of Advent, and attracted musicians from a wide area, remaining a feature of the church until 1810. In addition to his musical duties, Buxtehude, like his predecessor, also served as the bookkeeper of the church funds (the ‘Werkmeister’). Buxtehude’s fame as an organist is well documented. He travelled to Hamburg in 1687 to test the Arp Schnitger organ of the St. Nicholas Church, and was regularly visited by great musicians. George Frideric Handel and Johann Mattheson travelled to meet him in 1703, while in 1705 the young Johann Sebastian Bach – of whom Buxtehude is now considered the real predecessor –
6
journeyed 200 miles on foot from Arnstadt to visit the great organist and hear him play. Bach stayed in Lübeck to study for several months in 1705 and 1706; in 1705 he is recorded as having attended the performance of the extraordinary Abendmusiken Castrum Doloris (written to commemorate the death of the Holy Roman emperor Leopold I) and Templum Honoris (composed to celebrate the coronation of the successor of Leopold, Joseph I). Handel, Mattheson and Bach all aspired to succeed Buxtehude in his position at St. Mary’s, but did not want to marry his daughter, a requirement that was strictly enforced. Buxtehude died on 9 May 1707 and was buried in St. Mary’s a week later. His student Johann Christian Schieferdecker was appointed as his successor. Having been born half a century after Heinrich Schütz and a little less than half a century before J.S. Bach, Dieterich Buxtehude occupied the unique position of being a living link between the founder of Protestant Baroque music and its greatest master. His compositions included vocal music, organ and harpsichord works, and chamber music. He was exposed to a range of musical influences, particularly from German and Italian repertoire, which he skilfully combined, assisted by the contemporary trend for an unrestricted approach to musical form. This resulted in music of both rigour and colourful fantasy, demonstrating a unique personal style full of passionate feeling and imagination.
The Harpsichord Works Buxtehude wrote less for harpsichord than he did for organ, but more than most of his contemporary composers in Northern Europe. The works are preserved today in very few manuscripts; the main source is the Ryge manuscript, conserved in the Royal Library in Copenhagen, which contains 23 of Buxtehude’s works, although these do not include information on their origin and original destination. In the manuscript, Buxtehude’s compositions stand alongside similar works by Nicolas Lebègue (1630–1702). The Buxtehude Werke-Verzeichnis by Georg Karstädt (the Index of the Works of Buxtehude, published first in 1974 and updated in 1985, abbrev. BuxWV) lists 25 harpsichord works, consisting of 19 suites and 6 variation sets, with the numbers from 226 to 250. All these works are preserved in the Ryge manuscript, except for the Suite in C BuxWV231, which is preserved as a single work in a manuscript held at the University Library of Uppsala. We cannot determine exactly how much music Buxtehude wrote for the harpsichord, and it is possible that some important compositions have been lost. This is true in the case of the lost BuxWV251, a set of seven keyboard suites in which,
7
94312_Buxtehude_Harpsichord Music_BL2 v3_BRILLIANT CLASSICS 04/11/2011 11:56 Page 8
according to Johann Mattheson in 1741, ‘the nature and properties of the planets were finely portrayed’. The appendix of the BuxWV catalogue also includes some harpsichord works of doubtful origin, of which only the Courante in D minor BuxWV Ahn.6 seems to be a composition by Buxtehude. In addition to these works, two new authentic harpsichord suites have recently been discovered: one in D minor, included in an Estienne Roger print (published in Amsterdam in 1710) preserved in the National Library of Paris, which Pieter Dirksen attributed to Buxtehude in 2004 as a result of a comparison with the material of the Ryge Manuscript, and another in A minor from an unknown keyboard manuscript preserved in the Nordelbische Kirchenarchiv Kiel, edited by Konrad Küster in 2005. It is possible that Buxtehude wrote his harpsichord works for amateur performers, particularly as they differ significantly from the more developed music for organ in terms of compositional elaboration and technical demand. They use a limited range of keys – C major, D major and minor, E minor, F major, G major and minor, A major and minor – and remain within the limits of the meantone temperament, a system of tuning used on keyboard instruments from the 16th to the 18th century, which creates dissonant triads in remote keys through its use of pure major thirds. We know that Buxtehude was a promoter of Andreas Werckmeister’s innovative ‘well temperament’ tuning, which went beyond the limitations of the traditional meantone temperament, but his harpsichord works do not reflect this interest, whereas some of the organ works boldly explore the far-ranging harmonic possibilities of Werckmeister’s new tuning system. This seems to confirm the hypothesis that Buxtehude’s harpsichord pieces were aimed at amateurs: playing in remote keys was the domain of professional musicians. Furthermore, the harpsichord works also had a very limited distribution and circulation, and were probably written for the private use of individual patrons. None of the works were published.
The Suites The vast majority of the surviving harpsichord works are suites, and individual suite movements also play a predominant role in the variation sets. They display a notable French influence, something often found in the clavier suites of north German composers owing to the influence of the 17th century composer Johann Jakob Froberger, who helped establish, with his direct experience of the French tradition, the characteristic textures of the keyboard suite and the standard order of its movements. Matthias Weckmann also contributed to the diffusion of the French style throughout
8
northern Germany. The style is further indication of the intended audience of the harpsichord pieces, as suites in the French style were in great demand on the amateur market. With only few exceptions, the order of movements in Buxtehude’s suites follows the sequence of Allemande (4/4) – Courante (3/4) – Sarabande (3/4) – Gigue (6/8 or 12/8). Just as the variation sets contain suite movements, so the suites sometimes adopt the characteristics of variations. In some cases the Allemande and Courante are linked by a similar bass pattern; some suites also contain ‘Double’ movements, which are variations. Of particular interest is the widespread use of the style brisé, which contains many broken chords, imitating the style of lute playing. This became idiomatic in harpsichord music thanks to Buxtehude’s compositions. Also notable is the fugue-like polyphonic imitation employed in the concluding Gigue movements.
The Variation Sets Buxtehude composed six Arias with variations, each taking the tune from a different source and treating it in a particular way. The variations show a range of techniques, from virtuosic fireworks to softer, emotional passages, which give the performer the chance to explore the different timbres and registers of the harpsichord. There are some two-voice variations, which are structured using the different sonorities of the instrument’s two keyboards to create a duet-like effect. The BuxWV245 Courante zimble in A minor has eight movements, consisting of a ‘simple’ Courante with seven variations in which the complexity and difficulty increase gradually. The tenmovement Aria in C BuxWV246 is based on an apparently original tune in triple meter, developed through a sequence of variations of different characters. The Aria More Palatino (BuxWV247), like the previous example, is also in C major; it features 12 movements, and is based on a famous 17th-century folk song melody, on which other composers, including Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, wrote variation sets. The tune of the Aria in D minor BuxWV248 ‘Rofilis’ was taken from the song ‘Sommes nous pas trop heureux’ from Ballet de l’impatience (1661) by Jean-Baptiste Lully, and appears in many keyboard arrangements from the later 17th century. The origin of Lully’s tune was the song Belle Iris; over time the name transformed into ‘Rofilis’. Buxtehude’s Aria with three variations in A minor BuxWV249 is based on a Sarabande, which is varied to become increasingly elaborate. The Aria with 32 variations La Capricciosa, however,
9
94312_Buxtehude_Harpsichord Music_BL2 v3_BRILLIANT CLASSICS 04/11/2011 11:56 Page 10
contains a long sequence of movements with various characters, based on a G major tune (the harmony of which recalls the famous Italian bass-line tune Bergamasca in the first part). This monumental work demonstrates innovative performance techniques and a wide variety of musical ideas; its duration, about 25 minutes, qualifies it as one of the largest solo keyboard works of the 17th century, as well as one of the most important.
The other pieces In addition to the Courante in D minor BuxWV Anh.6, this recording also includes five works usually listed as organ compositions but often performed on the harpsichord: BuxWV163, 165, 166, 168 and 179. There are also ‘manualiter’ works (works played only with the hands, without the use of the pedal): preludes, toccatas, fugues, canzonas and choral elaborations that appear playable on both the organ and harpsichord. In some cases, the music contains idiomatic features that clearly indicate a particular keyboard instrument (as in J.S. Bach’s compositions). This seems likely in the case of Auf meinen lieben Gott BuxWV179, an elaboration of a sacred song from Johann Hermann Schein’s Cantional (Leipzig, 1627) based on an older melody of the German song ‘Venus, du und dein Kin’ by Jakob Regnart (1576). This work is written in the form of a suite, and is often played on the organ due to its origin as a sacred hymn, although its musical language is closer to other harpsichord suites than pieces for organ. When manualiter works do not suggest a specific instrument, the choice of organ or harpsichord is left to the performer. The other works differ significantly from suites and variation sets in their design and technical requirements. The Praeludium in G minor BuxWV163 has been included on this recording to give one of the greatest examples of the stylus phantasticus: it is a piece that summarises Buxtehude’s brilliant art, alternating virtuosic improvisation-like moments with three fugues of increasing speed and difficulty. The Toccata in G BuxWV165 is structured in three parts: the first amounts to a written-out improvisation, the second is a three-voice fugue with a vivacious subject, followed by the closing Chaconne. The Canzona in C BuxWV166 and Canzonetta in D minor BuxWV168 both feature imitative polyphony and are written in the typical style of the Italian canzona. Buxtehude treats the themes in a fugal manner, in three separate yet related sections: the first is in common time, the second is in triple meter (in the case of the Canzonetta in D minor, the subject of the first section is heard again but adapted to the new meter), and the third has a more elaborate contrapuntal treatment. Simone Stella, 2011 10
Simone Stella Born in Florence in 1981, Simone Stella is a pupil of harpsichordist Francesco Cera. He also studied organ with Mariella Mochi and Alessandro Albenga and organ improvisation with Fausto Caporali and Stefano Rattini. Simone has attended many courses and seminars held by internationally acclaimed artists, including Ton Koopman, Matteo Imbruno, Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, Luca Scandali, Giancarlo Parodi, Stefano Innocenti, Klemens Schnorr, Ludger Lohmann, Michel Bouvard, Monika Henking, and Guy Bovet. Simone Stella is the winner of the 2nd and 3rd ‘A. Esposito’ Youth Organ Competitions held in Lucca (2004–05), and the 1st ‘Agati-Tronci’ International Organ Competition held in Pistoia (2008). He performs, frequently as a soloist, in Italy, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands and Denmark. His repertoire includes harpsichord and organ music from every historical era up to and including the present day. A particularly interesting project was his live performance (2009–10) of the complete organ works by Dieterich Buxtehude in the historical Church of Orsanmichele in Florence, where he was titular organist. He has recorded Handel’s harpsichord suites for the Italian label OnClassical, and is also working on a recording of Georg Boehm’s complete works for klavier. Recording: 13–16 November 2010, Pove del Grappa, Vicenza Sound engineering & mastering: Alessandro Simonetto Editing: Alessandro Simonetto, Simone Stella Photograph of Simone Stella: Alessandro Simonetto An OnClassical production & 2012 Brilliant Classics
11