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Buxtehude - Abendmusiken

Label: Alpha

Cat No: ALPHA287

Barcode: 3760014192876

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Release Date: 22nd June 2018

This product has now been deleted. Information is for reference only.

Works

Buxtehude, Dieterich

Befiehl dem Engel, dass er komm, BuxWV10
Gott, hilf mir, BuxWV34
Herzlich Lieb hab ich dich, o Herr, BuxWV41
Jesu, meine Freude, BuxWV60
Jesu, meines Lebens Leben, BuxWV62
Sonata in D major, BuxWV267
Sonatas (7), op.1 BuxWV252-258

» no.4 in B flat major, BWV255

Sonatas (7), op.2 BuxWV259-265

» no.3 in G minor

Artists

Ensemble Masques
Vox Luminis

Conductors

Oliver Fortin
Lionel Meunier

Works

Buxtehude, Dieterich

» no.4 in B flat major, BWV255

Sonatas (7), op.2 BuxWV259-265

» no.3 in G minor

Artists

Ensemble Masques
Vox Luminis

Conductors

Oliver Fortin
Lionel Meunier

About

The Abendmusiken were a legendary concert series organised by Buxtehude in Lübeck. Even Johann Sebastian Bach travelled a long way to attend these concerts of sacred and instrumental music and met the master Dietrich Buxtehude, the most famous organist in Europe. To mark the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, Vox Luminis and the Ensemble Masques have come together to perform a programme of cantatas and instrumental pieces. The recording assembles leading specialists of this repertory, with the expert voices of Vox Luminis combining with the vitality of the instrumentalists of Ensemble Masques.

Sound/Video

Paused

1

Gott Hilf Mir, Denn Das Wasser Geht Mir Bis An Die Seele, BuxWV 34: I. Sonata
2

Gott Hilf Mir, Denn Das Wasser Geht Mir Bis An Die Seele, BuxWV 34: II. Gott Hilf Mir
3

Gott Hilf Mir, Denn Das Wasser Geht Mir Bis An Die Seele, BuxWV 34: III. Furchte Dich Nicht!
4

Gott Hilf Mir, Denn Das Wasser Geht Mir Bis An Die Seele, BuxWV 34: IV. Israel Hoffe Auf Den Herren! / Wer Hofft In Gott Und Dem Vertraut
5

Gott Hilf Mir, Denn Das Wasser Geht Mir Bis An Die Seele, BuxWV 34: V. Ach Ja, Mein Gott
6

Gott Hilf Mir, Denn Das Wasser Geht Mir Bis An Die Seele, BuxWV 34: VI. Israel Hoffe Auf Den Herren
7

Trio Sonata In A Minor, BuxWV 272
8

Befiehl Dem Engel, Dass Er Komm' In A Minor, BuxWV 10
9

Jesu, Meine Freude In E Minor, BuxWV 60: I. Sonata
10

Jesu, Meine Freude, BuxWV 60: II. Jesu, Meine Freude
11

Jesu, Meine Freude, BuxWV 60: III. Unter Deinem Schirmen
12

Jesu, Meine Freude, BuxWV 60: IV. Trotz Dem Alten Drachen
13

Jesu, Meine Freude, BuxWV 60: V. Weg Mit Allen Schätzen
14

Jesu, Meine Freude, BuxWV 60: VI. Gute Nacht, Ihr Sunden
15

Jesu, Meine Freude, BuxWV 60: VII. Weicht, Ihr Trauergeister
16

Trio Sonata In B-Flat Major, BuxWV 255
17

Herzlich Lieb Hab' Ich Dich, O Herr, BuxWV 41: I. Herzlich Lieb Hab' Ich Dich
18

Herzlich Lieb Hab' Ich Dich, O Herr, BuxWV 41: II. Es Ist Ja, Herr
19

Herzlich Lieb Hab' Ich Dich, O Herr, BuxWV 41: III. Ach Herr, Lass Dein’ Lieb’ Engelein
20

Trio Sonata In D Major, BuxWV 267
21

Jesu, Meines Lebens Leben In D Minor, BuxWV 62: I. Sinfonia
22

Jesu, Meines Lebens Leben In D Minor, BuxWV 62: II. Ciaconna

Europadisc Review

Since their thoroughly deserved Gramophone Record of the Year Award in 2012 for Schütz’s Musicalische Exequien, Vox Luminis under the genial direction of Lionel Meunier have consolidated their reputation as one of the most consistently accomplished and rewarding early music groups on the scene. In 2017 their CD of early Bach cantatas was one of our top 10 discs of the year, and their 2-disc set of Luther and the Music of the Reformation recently topped the Choral category in the BBC Music Magazine awards. Their latest offering, of vocal and instrumental music by Dieterich Buxtehude, if anything bears comparison with their memorable Schütz release, for it is every bit as engrossing and revealing.

Today Buxtehude is chiefly remembered for his organ music and as the reason for the young Bach’s unauthorised extended leave of absence from Arnstadt in 1705-06, when he took the opportunity to visit and learn from the older composer in Lübeck, where Buxtehude was organist of the Marienkirche, one of the top musical posts in Germany. Little is known of Buxtehude’s early life, but he was born and grew up on Danish soil before becoming organist at the Marienkirche in 1668, a position he held until his death almost 40 years later. Among his activities in Lübeck he continued the series of Abendmusiken, evening concerts which had previously been given on Wednesdays but which Buxtehude moved to the last two Sundays after Trinity and the second, third and fourth Sundays in Advent. At the same time he expanded them from simple organ recitals to a include a mixture of vocal works and chamber music, and they came to be regarded as the equivalent of opera performances.

The repertoire Buxtehude produced for these non-liturgically specific Abendmusiken significantly widens our knowledge of his compositional output, for he actually composed more vocal music than he did organ works. Although all the music on this disc has been recorded before, these top-drawer accounts from Vox Luminis will surely win new converts for an under-appreciated area of Buxtehude’s art. Of the five ensemble vocal works here, all scored for choir and instruments, the two most extended – Gott, hilf mir and Jesu, meine Freude – are masterpieces of the first rank. Both open with brief instrumental ‘sonatas’, the one to Gott, hilf mir suggesting the ‘deep waters’ that threaten to overwhelm the soul (bass soloist the excellent Sebastian Myrus), a vivid image also evoked in the following aria. In the third movement, the voice of God is taken by the full ensemble, while in the fourth movement unison strings intone the chorale melody Vater unser im Himmelreich. Jesu, meine Freude is similarly cantata-like in its construction, and here the famous chorale tune serves as the basis for a wide-ranging exploration of musical and textural possibilities. Sara Jäggi’s agile, youthful-sounding soprano in the second verse (track 11) is especially affecting, and the work as a whole is fascinating for its parallels with (as well as differences from) Bach’s celebrated motet on the same tune (BWV 227).

Besides these larger-scale pieces, the elaborate single-movement chorale setting of Befiehl dem Engel, dass er komm and the splendid three-movement Herzlich lieb hab ich dich also make a profound expressive impact. The closing work, Jesu, meines Lebens Leben, is an example of Buxtehude’s preoccupation with the ciaconna (chaconne) form, its successive verses unfolding over a repeated ground bass with mesmerising instrumental interludes and varied textures that call to mind Purcell, Pachelbel and others.

Filling out the programme are three trio sonatas, each scored for two stringed instruments and continuo. The first two, BuxWV 272 and BuxWV 255, combine violin and viola da gamba, timbrally distinct but with a familial similarity, while in the third, BuxWV 267, the upper voices are taken by the interesting pairing of viola da gamba and violone. These are engrossing works, revealing an exceptionally refined melodic gift but also providing plenty of opportunity for virtuosic display. The ebullient ground-bass first movement of BuxWV 255 is particularly uplifting. The soloists of Ensemble Masques (which partners Vox Luminis in the vocal works) play with a striking combination of refinement and evident enthusiasm.

For anyone who loves Baroque vocal music in particular, this is an absolute gem of a disc, and the instrumental sonatas provide a welcome bonus. Vox Luminis continues to impress with its ‘consort’ sound: a collection of outstanding voices who blend well together but whose individuality is not lost in the process, distinctive yet without the idiosyncrasies that sometimes marr other groups in this field. And above all, their largely one-to-a-part performances of Buxtehude do brilliant service to a composer whose vocal and chamber output clearly deserves to be much better known than it is. Altogether an outstanding disc, generously filled (over 85 minutes!), handsomely recorded and presented.

Reviews

... music of expressive variety and flexibility, ideally suited to the skills of Vox Luminis, whose name on a release these days is enough in itself to spark a tingle of anticipation. They do not disappoint, charting the emotional contours of Buxtehude’s music with exquisite understanding and demonstrating their now familiar deep but lucid choral blend, out of which expertly executed solos emerge and return. ... Perfectly balanced and beautifully recorded, this is another outstanding release from Lionel Meunier and his team. Lindsay Kemp

Gramophone September 2018

Lionel Meunier’s crack consort teams up with the equally estimable Ensemble Masques to explore some of the music that might have been performed during those December divertissements. And they mix cantatas and trio sonatas with a judicious flair... Rich, lively and truthful, the recorded sound consummates a seductively considered disc that pretty much never puts a foot wrong. Hanseatic heaven! Paul Riley (Choral & Song Choice)

BBC Music Magazine August 2018

Little is known about what Buxtehude presented in his annual series of Sunday concerts during Advent. Vox Luminis and Ensemble Masques collaborate intelligently on this free-flowing mixture of chamber sonatas and sacred pieces in performances of sensitivity and harmonic finesse. David Vickers (Critics’ Choice)

Gramophone December 2018

This year I was once again beguiled by Vox Luminis, now bringing their deep and focused expressiveness to motets by Buxtehude, an apogee of all the beauty, dignity and ingenuity of German 17th-century church music. With eloquent string sonatas added by Ensemble Masques, it does Bach’s great predecessor proud. Lindsay Kemp (Critics’ Choice)

Gramophone December 2018