This is volume two of the Naxos reissue of Lars Ulrik Mortensen’s
Buxtehude series. It previously appeared on Dacapo. This particular
volume was Dacapo 8.224117.
Mortensen is a fine
musician, whose approach to Buxtehude is vivacious and dignified
in equal proportions. His Buxtehude has both passion and seriousness
- but not solemnity - of mind. Mortensen makes sparkling use
of the resources of his instrument, a copy by Thomas Mandrup-Poulsen
of an original by Ruckers. Though the notes to this present
CD give no further details, it sounds like the beautifully-toned
instrument, made in 1984, which Mortensen played on some of
his Bach recordings (CPO 999 989-2) and Froberger (Kontrapunkt
32040). It sings delightfully – at least it does when played
by Mortensen! The use of mean-tone tuning will surely disturb
very few modern listeners.
The theme of the
set of variations on More Palatino (not More Palantino
as printed on the back cover) is a student drinking song, though
the rather stately form in which Buxtehude presents it is not
especially redolent of the tavern. Still, it is an attractive
and melodically various set, Mortensen’s varying use of registration
producing some charming effects and some insistently dancing
rhythms. The same is true of a second set of variations played
here, those on Courant Zimble – a title we might translate
as ‘Simple Courante’, and aptly so, since it is an uncomplicated
piece which invites – and gets – some direct and appealing variations
from Buxtehude. Mortensen resists the temptation to over-inflate
these or make any excessive claims for them.
Each of the two
Suites is made up four movements, in the order Allemande-Courante-Sarabande-Gigue.
In each work the allemande is the most substantial movement,
considerably longer than any of the other three movements. The
allemandes also tend to have a greater musical gravity, that
which opens Bux WV 242 being particularly grand in manner and
phrasing; the courantes have, by way of contrast, a rippling
vitality, that in Bux WV 25 being full of pleasant twists and
turns. Buxtehude’s sarabandes have a graceful simplicity about
them, a quality heard to perfection in Mortensen’s performances
of the two in these suites, especially that in the E minor suite,
where the registration is beautifully judged and employed. The
gigues of the two suites make more much use of counterpoint,
especially in comparison to the simpler lines of the sarabandes
which precede them. But these are by no means academic fugues
and in both suites the final movements very forcefully remember
the dance origins of the gigue.
All of the shorter
pieces in this programme have their genuine attractions and
all are well characterised by Mortensen. The chorale ‘Nun lob,
mein Seel, den Herren’ is more often heard on the organ, although
it makes no requirements that the harpsichord can’t fulfil –
as Mortensen persuasively demonstrates. Indeed there is a particular
sprightliness to this reading that is distinct from anything
that can be achieved on the baroque organ and which offers an
alternative, equally valid, view of the music. Bux WV 170, 171
and 174 are pieces which survive amongst the manuscripts of
Buxtehude’s organ music but which, again, are eminently playable
on the harpsichord. The fugal writing here is more ‘correct’
than in the gigues of the suites, but don’t let that make you
imagine that these are unduly staid pieces. Here they have the
same vivacity which characterises this programme as a whole
and they are played with the same loving care for the aptness
of instrumental sound and tone.
Without wanting
to claim Mortensen’s as the ‘best’ recordings of Buxtehude’s
harpsichord works – if one had to pick I suppose the vote might
go to Ton Koopman – there is not the slightest reason to feel
in any way dissatisfied with this fine recital. If you don’t
know Buxtehude’s writing for harpsichord – this is an excellent
value-for-money place to start; if you are already an aficionado
of this repertoire you will surely be just as keen to add this
to your collection.
Glyn Pursglove
see also Review
by Brian Wilson
Lars Ulrik
Mortensen (harpsichord) 
