Buxtehude organ works

[listener]

Buxtehude biography re-issued
http://www.gothic-catalog.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BK-Buxtehude%2FSnyder

[71 dB]

I have had this set for some times ...

Ugly cover art! Very repulsive.

[prémont]

Ugly cover art! Very repulsive.

The repulsive cover is the cover of the Danish Classico release.

The better German Doc release has got a more neutral cover.

[The new erato]

The repulsive cover is the cover of the Danish Classico release.

The better German Doc release has got a more neutral cover.

I've got this bookmarked for purchase. Thank you guys.

[71 dB]

The better German Doc release has got a more neutral cover.

Yes, much better indeed.  I wonder how this set compares with Naxos releases I have (except volume 7 which is to be purchased in the near future).

[prémont]

Yes, much better indeed.  I wonder how this set compares with Naxos releases I have (except volume 7 which is to be purchased in the near future).

If you do not intend to to investigate Buxtehudes organ works that much, I think you are well served with the Naxos release. But I think Spang-Hanssen is marginally more interesting (more infectious stylus fantasticus playing and more interesting organs) and his set is really a bargain and value for money.

[71 dB]

If you do not intend to to investigate Buxtehudes organ works that much, I think you are well served with the Naxos release. But I think Spang-Hanssen is marginally more interesting (more infectious stylus fantasticus playing and more interesting organs) and his set is really a bargain and value for money.

Ok, sounds good. Bargain this set really is, would Yoda say! 

[Coopmv]

Ok, sounds good. Bargain this set really is, would Yoda say! 

I stumbled upon the original release during my web-surfing a number of years ago ...

[Leo K.]

In my ears the best set you can buy, in sound and performance. Reviews are raving.

Wow, an amazing sounding set! After the first disk I'm hooked 

[Geo Dude]

Wow, an amazing sounding set! After the first disk I'm hooked 

I've also been hooked by the first disc.  Tempos tend to be slow, but the sound is great and Vogel certainly manages to be quite profound.  It will be interesting to compare it to the Spang-Hanssen recording once I've had a chance to make it through the set.  Simone Stella (recorded the complete works of Buxtehude on harpsichord) has also recorded a set.  I'm sure that will be wonderful when he eventually finds a record label for it.

[Leo K.]

I've also been hooked by the first disc.  Tempos tend to be slow, but the sound is great and Vogel certainly manages to be quite profound.  It will be interesting to compare it to the Spang-Hanssen recording once I've had a chance to make it through the set.  Simone Stella (recorded the complete works of Buxtehude on harpsichord) has also recorded a set.  I'm sure that will be wonderful when he eventually finds a record label for it.

I agree Vogel projects profoundity in his tone, and this is such a great introduction to Buxtehude's keyboard work. I have Simone Stella's harpsichord set and it's stunning, highly recommended for performance and great sound quality.

[Karl Henning]

 Quote from: Leo K on February 19, 2012, 11:04:48 AM

I agree Vogel projects profoundity in his tone, and this is such a great introduction to Buxtehude's keyboard work. I have Simone Stella's harpsichord set and it's stunning, highly recommended for performance and great sound quality.

 
Just landed here; I shall listen in a bit.

[Leo K.]

Quote from: Leo K on February 19, 2012, 11:04:48 AM

I agree Vogel projects profoundity in his tone, and this is such a great introduction to Buxtehude's keyboard work. I have Simone Stella's harpsichord set and it's stunning, highly recommended for performance and great sound quality.

 
Just landed here; I shall listen in a bit.

Look forward to your thoughts!

[Mandryka]

What do you think of Focroulle's Buxtehude, premont?

I've been listening fairly randomly on spotify and I like what I hear in Buxwv 150 and 142. Restrained, a nice sounding instrument in both cases I think, and in Buxwv 150 especially, quite contemplative and intimate.

Do the earlier buxwv numbers mean that the piece is an earlier work?

[prémont]

What do you think of Focroulle's Buxtehude, premont?

I got this set a couple of years ago and listened to it twice. My feelings were somewhat mixed. So I decided to relisten to the entire set once more before answering you.

For some reason I still get the impression that Foccroulle is a relative newcomer to most of Buxtehudes organ works. As if he has not quite digested them. Much like the impression one gets of Marie-Claire Alains complete set on Danish organs from ca. 1970. While the most accessible part of the works (the chorale bound works) is beautifully done, I think the chorale free works fare less well. In these Foccroulle seems to aim more at diversity than at coherence, and even if diversity with sudden and unexpected change of affects is a central part of the stylus phantasticus, the coherence of a given work is just as important. The interpreter must give the impression that the different parts of a given work do not come in casual sequence but that they obey some inner unspoken logic. I think Foccroulle fails here, and this is in short why I find listening to him somewhat frustrating in this repertoire. 

BTW He plays some interesting organs, none of them equally tuned, so for organological reasons the set is very interesting.

Do the earlier buxwv numbers mean that the piece is an earlier work?

No, the works are numbered according to the kind of work (e.g. Præludium, Choralfantasy)

[Josquin des Prez]

I took the time to explore some new Buxtehude recordings, but i think i still like Saorgin best.

I wish more ensembles would take up on his cantatas, don't really like Koopman.

[Mandryka]

I got this set a couple of years ago and listened to it twice. My feelings were somewhat mixed. So I decided to relisten to the entire set once more before answering you.

For some reason I still get the impression that Foccroulle is a relative newcomer to most of Buxtehudes organ works. As if he has not quite digested them. Much like the impression one gets of Marie-Claire Alains complete set on Danish organs from ca. 1970. While the most accessible part of the works (the chorale bound works) is beautifully done, I think the chorale free works fare less well. In these Foccroulle seems to aim more at diversity than at coherence, and even if diversity with sudden and unexpected change of affects is a central part of the stylus phantasticus, the coherence of a given work is just as important. The interpreter must give the impression that the different parts of a given work do not come in casual sequence but that they obey some inner unspoken logic. I think Foccroulle fails here, and this is in short why I find listening to him somewhat frustrating in this repertoire. 

BTW He plays some interesting organs, none of them equally tuned, so for organological reasons the set is very interesting.

No, the works are numbered according to the kind of work (e.g. Præludium, Choralfantasy)

First off, thanks so much for listening again to the records. I've hardly listened to any of the cycle, as I said I've just dipped randomly here and there.

But your post did inspire me to listen again to Buxwv 150, from Foccroulle and from others. I think what I liked most about Focroulle's recording is the dark, rapt and almost sombre way he plays the opining prelude and the first fugue. And I also like the way that the registration changes are so subtle. It's quite a contrast from Harald Vogel's record, which has marvellous sweep and unity, coherence. Vogel is so bright by comparison, and his registration change for the first fugue is so dramatic (inorganic?) I like what Vogel does in the first half of Bwv 150, but I like  the inwardness of Foccroulle at least as much.

Another recording of it which I loved was Bryndorf's. The little non-fugal passage  which comes straight after the first fugue, and which acts rather like a prelude to what follows, is just glorious, magical, in Bryndorf's hands. And the fugues which follow it have a real brio and éclat which I find totally irresistible. That's one thing I really miss from Foccroulle's, who by comparison is a bit drab in the final fugues, I think.

[Mandryka]

I took the time to explore some new Buxtehude recordings, but i think i still like Saorgin best.

I wish more ensembles would take up on his cantatas, don't really like Koopman.

Thanks for mentioning Saorgin. I just sampled Buxwv 150 and I'm really positive. I like the slow and noble pace of the first fugue, the dramatic way he plays the transition from the first to the second, and the spontaneity of the final fugue. This is interesting music making and I'm looking forward to delving a bit further.

[Marc]

Foccroulle plays Buxtehude BuxWV 155 Toccata in d-moll.
This Schnitger organ of Norden is a beauty!

Btw: watch the 'genuine HIP' coupling action at 6:18 (shove-coupler)!

http://www.youtube.com/v/gjHkzqSOxnw

[Mandryka]

I've got a handful of questions about Buxtehude which I thought I'd just post, just in case someone can come up with answers.

First, where can I get a list of works by date of composition? For example, I notice that the BuxWV numbering just groups pieces by genre, and them alphabetically. I want to get a grip on his musical development.

I was thinking of buying Kerala Snyder's book on Buxtehude, but it's quite expensive. Is that the best one just for finding out about his life, philosophical ideas and reception history? I'm not a musicologist and I'm not really interested in analysis.

And finally, one little piece that really has gotten under my skin is Vogel's performance of BuxWV 146, a wonderful prelude which Vogel plays so delicately and spiritually, on a bright but gorgeous and intimate organ in Langwarden. If anyone knows any more performances like this, or other records on the Langwarden organ, let me know please!