Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor Rob Barnett Editor in Chief
John Quinn Contributing Editor Ralph Moore Webmaster
David Barker Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf MusicWeb Founder Len Mullenger
Dietrich BUXTEHUDE (c.1637-1707) Harpsichord Music - Volume 2 Arias More Palantino with 12 variations in C,
BuxWV247 [16:00]
Suite in g minor, BuxWV242 [7:52]
Fugue in C, BWV174 [2:52] Courant Zimble with 8 Variations in a minor, BuxWV245
[7:24]
Canzonetta in G, BuxWV171 [2:07]
Suite in e minor, BuxWV235 [10:12]
Canzona in G, BuxWV170 [4:00] Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren, BuxWV215 [2:18]
Lars Ulrik
Mortensen (harpsichord)
rec. St Matthew’s Church, Copenhagen, 22-28 September 1998.
DDD. NAXOS 8.570580 [52:46]
Still the new and reissued
CDs of Buxtehude are coming through, though the centenary
year is well behind us. Naxos has yet to complete its
series of organ recordings and their partner label DaCapo
has
just completed its own survey of the organ works. Challenge
Classics have embarked on a series of recordings of the
Complete Works under the direction of Ton Koopman, including
both organ and harpsichord works.
This Naxos offering is
a reissue of DaCapo 8.224117 and a successor to Volume
1 (8.570579) which, I think, has slipped through the Musicweb
review net. This recording was well received on its first
appearance and the name of Lars Ulrik Mortensen is almost
a guarantee of the quality of the performances, a guarantee
fully honoured in the event.
Mortensen’s instrument
is a copy of a Ruckers, employing mean-tone tuning. I know
that some listeners with a sense of perfect pitch sometimes
find it difficult to adapt to anything other than equal
temperament – itself a compromise to the ears of string
players – but few will find a problem with the tuning or
sound of this instrument. It’s not one of those old fashioned
monsters - see my review of
a recent book on Isolde Ahlgrimm for her part in banishing
them - but it’s no wilting violet either, especially as
it’s recorded fairly closely. To borrow from St Paul, it’s
no sounding gong, nor is it a tinkling cymbal. Unless I’ve
missed it, the booklet doesn’t offer details of the pitch
but I have no reason to doubt that it’s within baroque
parameters, unlike some of the Buxtehude organ recordings
which I’ve recently reviewed, where the pitch of an historic
organ has been tampered with over the centuries.
Early music didn’t usually
mean anything earlier than Bach, even for Isolde Ahlgrimm.
As undergraduates in the early 1960s, my friends and
I still considered the Brandenburg Concertos and The
Four Seasons almost with the delight of finding archæological
artefacts. However perceptions have been so stretched
in recent decades that Buxtehude’s music is no longer
considered esoteric, even before the impetus of
the 2007 centenary. Nevertheless, though I knew Buxtehude’s
vocal and organ works, it is only recently that his chamber
music and harpsichord
pieces have impinged on my consciousness, mainly thanks
to Naxos (see my review of
Volume 3 of his chamber music on 8.557250).
The most considerable
work here is the first item, the twelve variations (on
a student drinking song, though you wouldn’t realise
it) on tracks 1-12. If you thought that Brahms had toned
down
the raucous element in the student song Gaudeamus igitur,
for his Academic Festival Overture – a necessary
precaution, given Cambridge’s somewhat puritanical reputation
in contrast with its more tolerant elder sibling – you
may well be surprised at how much more Buxtehude has tidied
up this piece. That’s not to say, however, that he has
made it po-faced – far from it – or that it receives
anything other than a most enjoyable performance here,
especially
the light-toned finale on track 12.
Some of the music on this
recording is equally at home on the organ and the harpsichord,
which explains why the Courant Zimble with 8 variations,
BuxWV245, may also be found on Julia Brown’s recording
of the complete organ works (Vol. 7, Naxos 8.570312 -
see review). Mortensen’s
performance of that piece is a good deal faster than
Brown’s
(7:24 against 10:18) but both are excellent within their
own terms. The lighter-toned harpsichord lends itself
to Mortensen’s nimble performance, which may be less
appropriate on the heavier-toned organ … which is not
to imply that Brown’s chosen registration is inappropriate.
I haven’t been able to
compare Ton Koopman’s recordings of the organ and harpsichord
works; it will be interesting to see if, as I expect, where
there is an overlap, even the same performer adopts different
tempi for the different instruments. Don’t be puzzled
by the term Courant zimble – it took me a long
time when reviewing the earlier CD to figure out that zimble is
just a variant spelling of the French word simple.
That same Julia Brown
recording also offers the Canzona in G, BuxWV170.
Again, she takes more time than Mortensen, though the
differences are not so extreme this time – 4:00 against
4:28. Once again, for the reasons stated above, I was
perfectly happy
with both interpretations.
The Fugue in C,
BuxWV174 also features on Bine Bryndorf’s sixth and final
volume of the organ works (DaCapo compatible SACD 6.220530 – see
review). Here, too, the organ performance is a
trifle slower than the harpsichord (2:52 against 3:00).
Bryndorf’s tempi tend to be more nimble than Brown’s
where the two overlap, which is one reason why I slightly
preferred
the DaCapo recordings, but once again all three are excellent
within their own terms. DaCapo Volume 6 also offers the Canzona,
BWV170 – a three-way comparison of this piece indicates
that Bryndorf is the most nimble here at 3:41, though
the differences are not great in this piece.
There is one item in common
between this CD and another Naxos collection of Buxtehude’s
harpsichord works, performed by Glen Wilson on 8.557413
and recommended by JV and PSh (see JV’s review and
follow link there to review by PSh). Mortensen and Wilson
take almost exactly equal times for the Canzonetta in
G, BuxWV171 – just one second difference – and, much as
my colleagues and other reviewers enjoyed the Wilson recording,
I cannot imagine that his performance is any improvement
on Mortensen’s.
The final work, Nun
lob, mein Seel, BuxWV215, also features on a Julia
Brown recording, this time on Volume 6 (Naxos 8.570311 – see
review). Here, too, Mortensen is faster than Brown
(2:18 against
2:50); once again, I found both interpretations
plausible within context.
If I have concentrated
on the performances which overlap with other recordings,
be assured that the music is all enjoyable, that Mortensen’s
playing throughout is little short of exemplary and the
recording close but not unduly so.
The notes are an abridgement
of Kerela Snyder’s for the DaCapo issue. I could have done
without the biographical details in exchange for more about
the music, but I realise that these notes are written for
all levels and that beginners will be more interested in
some facts about the composer’s life than the pitch of
the instrument. As usual with Naxos, the cover design
is tasteful and the illustration apt.
Naxos offers an extra
inducement in the form of a free download from its classicsonline website,
a Toccata from Froberger’s Toccatas and Partitas
IV. If you’re already signed up, all you will have to
do is log on and type in the promotion code. If you’re
not yet a member, this is a rather brazen inducement
to do
so. I don’t want to collude with this Naxos advertising
ploy, but you will find some very attractive downloads
on the site – not just Naxos’s own
recordings but a wide range of other labels, often available
for less
than on their parent website, Chandos mp3s, for example,
at £4.99 or £7.99. Volume 1 of Koopman’s Buxtehude
harpsichord works is available there, too.
When you place your order
for this recording – and for volume 1, if you don’t yet
have it – don’t forget Naxos’s other contributions to
Buxtehude year: •
the
complete organ music, which has now reached Volume 7
• the
two volumes of vocal music (review of Vol.
2)
• the
recently
completed organ recordings on sister label Dacapo
The DaCapo set ran to
three CDs; I hope that we shall soon have the remaining
volume, which contains some of Buxtehude’s best
music.
Reviews
from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the
discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin
Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to
which you refer.