This 2CD set features the complete manualiter works (music for manuals only) as well as a selection of other works that suit a small instrument, such as the Flentrop organ at St Paul’s Lutheran Church, Wellington, on which this recording was made.

Dietrich Buxtehude (1637/9 – 1707) is widely considered to be one of the most significant German composers of the mid-Baroque, and influenced a number of composers that followed him – most notably Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1688 Buxtehude was appointed organist at the Marienkirche, Lübeck, a post which gave him a great deal of flexibility as a musician. He re-established the Abendmusik series (started by his predecessor and father-in-law Franz Tunder) – a series of evening musical performances designed to take church music outside of a liturgical setting. These recitals drew musicians from far and wide, including Bach who travelled more than 400km to hear him play. Despite having only arranged leave for four weeks from his position at the church in Arnstadt, Bach stayed in Lübeck for three months. When he returned he was chastised for his ‘improper’ playing, including over-complicating chorale preludes to the point where the congregation could not recognise the chorale melody. This suggests that Bach was hugely influenced by Buxtehude’s organ works and improvisations, and the similarities in style between Buxtehude’s later works and Bach’s early works are striking.

Despite the inherent limitation of manualiter works in not employing the pedal, they are stimulating and characterful works to perform and listen to. These works can be divided into four main sections – preludes, fugues, canzonas and chorale preludes. As with all of Buxtehude’s preludes, these are structured in similar ways – an improvisatory introduction, followed by a strict fugue, and usually ending with a brief free coda. These works represent the highest point in the evolution of stylus phantasticus - a feeling of free improvisation. Of the three works labelled ‘fugue’, only the first (BuxWV 174) follows the structure of a true fugue. The canzonas are the only strictly contrapuntal works in Buxtehude’s oeuvre, and were most likely written as study pieces for his pupils. Despite this, they are anything but dull – being hugely varied and often employing light-hearted themes. The other works on this disc are all suitable for performance on a smaller organ. Of particular note for me is the inclusion of the Chaconne in c minor BuxWV 159. This is first Buxtehude work I learned to play, aged 16, and I quickly developed a desire to learn more of his music. This disc represents the start of a long-term project to record the complete organ works of Buxtehude.