Dietrich Buxtehude

Dietrich Buxtehude , c.1637-1707, Danish composer and organist. From 1668 until his death he was organist at Lübeck, where he established a famous series of evening concerts that attracted musicians from all over northern Germany. On one occasion J. S. Bach walked about 200 miles (320 km) to hear these concerts, and his own style was much influenced by Buxtehude's choral, orchestral, and organ music. His best-known works are freely developed organ fugues and concerted choral music.

Buxtehude, Dietrich ( Diderik) Buxtehude) (b Oldesloe, Holstein, c.1637; d Lübeck, 1707). Danish organist and composer. In 1668 appointed organist, Marienkirche, Lübeck, from which his fame as a player spread through Europe. In 1673 reinstated practice of giving ambitious mus. perfs. in assoc. with church services. Known as Abendmusiken (evening concerts), they were held annually on the 5 Sundays before Christmas. Such was Buxtehude's fame that J. S. Bach walked 200 miles from Arnstadt to hear him play. Comp. many works for org. (which influenced Bach), and trio sonatas. His vocal music, most of it to sacred texts, is as important as his organ works. He wrote 20 cantatas, of which the cycle of seven, Membra Jesu Nostri (1680) is highly regarded; his other vocal comps. may be categorized as concertos, chorales, and arias. His arias suggest the influence of Monteverdi, with a strong preference for strophic form over the da capo aria.