Buxtehude and the Harpsichord.

In 1706 the young J.S.Bach obtained a month's leave from his employers at Arnstadt, and walked 230 miles to Lubeck, to make the acquaintance of Dietrich Buxtehude - the 'grand old man' of north-German music. He stayed three months longer than permitted, and Buxtehude was a huge influence upon Bach's own music.

2007 was the 300th anniversary of Buxtehude's death, which occurred only months after Bach's departure. The event was commemorated by whole festivals of music on Buxtehude's 'home ground' of north Germany and Denmark (he was a Dane by descent, and his earlier posts as organist were in Denmark itself).

A renewal of interest in Buxtehude's music also occurred in England, with performances of his church and chamber music, which are of very high quality, and are less familiar than his monumental organ works. Even less well-known are his pieces for solo harpsichord. These consist of a number of beautiful and varied keyboard suites, and several sets of variations, including the greatest set written before Bach: The La Capricciosa Variations were a clear inspiration for Bach to write the Goldberg Variations. They are the same number, in the same key, and include the same musical theme.

Colin Booth offered a personal tribute to this much-loved composer, with a series of solo concerts of his harpsichord music. Venues included Dartington, London's Handel House, the Viborg Buxtehude Festival in Denmark, and two performances in north Germany, including one in in the composer's own workplace, Lubeck. A CD of the music is already available from this website.

Colin comments: 'I have always favoured immersing an audience in the music of one or two composers during a concert, rather than offering them a less digestible variety of styles. Judging by their response to entire performances of (for example) William Croft, or Johann Mattheson, it works! So when Danish colleagues asked me to give a whole short concert of Buxtehude's harpsichord music, I was delighted. In fact there is more than enough variety in this music to justify making listeners enjoy an hour of it.'

Buxtehude: Suites and Variations SBCD207