Dietrich Buxtehude.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Sound recording review)

Dietrich Buxtehude. Membra Jesu Nostri. Netherlands Bach Society / Jos van Veldhoven. Channel Classics CCS SA 24006, 2006.

Dietrich Buxtehude. Membra Jesu Nostri. Cantus Colln / Konrad Junghanel. Harmonia Mundi HMC 901912, 2006.

Questions about the early life and education of Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) are controversial to this day. Some scholars believe his musical education came from his father, while others argue that he was very likely trained by the great organ composer Heinrich Scheidemann (ca. 1595-1663); somewhat less credibly, it has also been proposed that he studied with Johann Theile (1646-1724). What is certain is that, like a number of his contemporaries in the north of Germany, he was a very celebrated composer in his day and many of his works have been lost. His surviving works for organ have gained popularity in recent decades, but there has also been a recent resurgence of interest in his sacred cantatas, particularly the group of seven Passion cantatas written under the group title Membra Jesu. (His completely delightful chamber music has never received quite the attention it deserves, though there have been several fine recordings of that material since the early 1980s.) As witness to the resurgent ...