Album Description
The fourth part of the complete works of Buxtehude, and the second part of the organ works, contains the composer's earlier works from before 1683.
Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707) was a Danish-born organist and composer of the German Baroque; he was organist at St. Mary's Church in Lubeck most of his life. Regarded at one time as mostly an "influence" on later composers, including Bach, Handel, and Telemann, Buxtehude has risen steadily in modern estimation and is now considered the most important German composer between Schutz and Bach.
Here, Ton Koopman plays the Wilde/Schnittger organ (1599/1682), at St. Jacobi Kirche, Ludingworth (Denmark). The organ is tuned in the correct, historic mean-tone temperament. Koopman is one of the world's foremost Early Music keyboard specialists and directors, whose complete Bach cantatas acquired worldwide acclaim. Koopman, as president of the International Dieterich Buxtehude Society, is the authority on this music!
Ton Koopman was born in Zwolle in 1944. After a classical education he studied organ, harpsichord, and musicology in Amsterdam, and was awarded the Prix d'Excellence for both instruments. Almost from the beginning of his musical studies, he was fascinated with authentic instruments and a performance style based on sound scholarship. Koopman's extensive and impressive activities as a soloist, accompanist, and conductor have been recorded on a large number of LPs and CDs for labels that include Erato, Teldec, Sony, Philips, and DGG. Over the course of a forty-year career, he has appeared at all of the most important concert halls and festivals on the five continents.
