RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Dieterich BUXTEHUDE (1637/1639 - 1707)
Opera Omnia XVI: Vocal Works 6
Membra Jesu nostri BuxWV 75 1680: Ad pedes [7:42];
Ad genua [6:20]; Ad manus [7:33]; Ad latus [6:56]; Ad
pectus [8:32]; Ad cor [8:58]; Ad faciem [5:33]
Siri Karoline Thornhill (soprano 1); Dorothee Wohlgemuth (soprano 2); Patrick
van Goethem (alto); Jörg Dürmüller (tenor); Klaus Martens (bass)
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra/Ton Koopman (organ)
rec. June, 2011, Singelkerk, Amsterdam, Netherlands. DDD
CHALLENGE CLASSICS CC72255 [55:43]
This disc presents a subtle, delicately-articulated, gentle yet penetrating
account of Buxtehude's seven-part cantata cycle Membra Jesu nostri
(The Limbs of our Jesus). It follows closely on Volume XV (reviewed here recently)
of Ton Koopman's outstanding survey of all of Buxtehude's surviving works.
The singing and playing, the sensitivity to the particularities as much as
to the idiom of Buxtehude's beautiful music, the meticulous execution with
both attention to detail and a holistic understanding of the composer's motives
make this CD shine as much as any in the series.
Composed in 1680, the Membra Jesu nostri is essentially the first Lutheran
oratorio. The main text comprises poetry from the mediaeval hymn, 'Salve mundi
salutare', once thought to be by Bernard of Clairvaux but now more likely
to have been the work of Arnulf of Louvain, who died in the middle of the
C13th. Each section is addressed to a different part of Christ's crucified
body… the feet, knees, hands, side, breast, heart, and face. Buxtehude
then 'encloses' each strophe by repeating its opening Biblical verse.
Scored variously for five voices, SSATB (who also form the choir), two violins
and basso continuo with a viola da gamba consort in the longest section (to
the heart), Buxtehude's splendid and moving Membra Jesu nostri was
dedicated to Gustaf Düben, friend and fellow musician from Stockholm
(where he was organist and Kapellmeister), though of German descent. An earlier
Düben (Andreas, who lived from 1555 to 1625) worked as organist at St
Thomas, Leipzig.
Yes, North German music of the seventeenth century does have something of
a hothouse feel to it but it is far from incestuous, or inward-looking. It
is in fact concentrated and shot through with slowly evolving complex commitment
to the confessional ideas and ideals that evolved from the Reformation and
in the teeth of the Thirty Years War (1618 - 1848). Buxtehude's greatest works
(of which this is one) distill and concentrate his religious and broader spiritual
convictions into music of great effect and perhaps even greater affect. Here
Koopman and his forces are fully behind every nuance and hint at feeling.
It's important to note that for all its devotional thrust and tone, Buxtehude's
Membra Jesu nostri is not a conventional liturgical work as such. Rather
it is a setting of mystical poetry somewhat akin - though in a much more subdued
tone - to the approach which, say, the 'Song of Songs' takes to adoration
and sacred love.
Buxtehude's tempi, restraint in instrumental textures and even unassuming
architecture and musical structure must be respected. This is not a glowing,
backlit spectacle. It's a meditation. And Koopman and his soloists fully understand
this. Both Wohlgemuth and Martens are typically adept - though the others
are exemplary. The performers are all collaborating; there is nothing operatic
and any drama is subdued. They are all also aware of the advantages of a careful
balance between such contemporary liturgical priorities on the one hand and,
on the other, the weight of responsibility to make this exceptional work sound
both approachable and … special. They achieve that balance completely
here.
The trick seems to have been that Koopman's interpretation does not merely
'sound' exceptional. The seven cantatas are each brought to life by familiarity
with their texts, their origins, with the musical technicalities and details,
with the interpretative challenges, the need for contrast yet importance of
wholeness; and by knowing so well the way Buxtehude thought. Lastly there
is a healthy dose of veneration. They are then melded into a beautiful and
fragile yet enduring whole, which is quite remarkable.
In some ways, the more formal aspects of the construction of the texts and
corresponding music would suggest a lack of exploration, of experimentation
and of not straying very far from the music's obvious heart. However this
is music by Buxtehude, who knew his milieu as well as, presumably, he knew
contemporary and even likely future audiences. Limitations to the composer
were not so much challenges as structural strengths from which great excursions
could be, and were, made. Membra Jesu nostri is strangely outward-looking
in its pondering on the subject: life after evident death, perhaps.
Again, Koopman, his soloists and accompanying players achieve just the right
interpretative balance between what Buxtehude wrote and what inspired him.
The result is that colour is present. This is always deployed for a good and
obvious reason: the developing use of keys throughout, the variety of the
texts, the contrasts between cantatas.
The fulcrum around which the rest of the cantatas seem to revolve is, understandably,
the Ad cor. Here the singers come together in an almost unbearably
intense profusion of honesty and openness - particularly the Vulnerasti
cor meum [tr.25]. The final four movements of Ad faciem [tr.s 26-29]
come almost - though not quite - as a 'relief', a loosening of the tension.
This final movement is as much a directed meditation as any other and, at
its conclusion, you simply want to sit in silence. This is perhaps before
returning to the start of this rock-solid yet highly expressive 55 minute-long
CD and experience the inward-looking, though honest, somehow open and never
maudlin music again.
The booklet that comes in the slipcase with the single CD contains - as always
- helpful context; it includes a look back to the recording Koopman made in
the early 1980s (nla, apparently). It explains how far we have come in our
understanding of this music since then. It also has the full texts in Latin
and English translation. Koopman calls Membra Jesu nostri a 'masterpiece'.
Indeed there are over a dozen and a half recordings thereof currently available.
Few have the immediacy, delicacy yet forceful insight of this one, though.
Even if you are not collecting Koopman's cycle, you should consider this version
very seriously. If you have any of the other CDs and sets in the series, you
will not want to miss what this recording exudes: depth, approachability,
sense of commitment to the religious values which motivated Buxtehude, as
well as intriguing instrumental and vocal textures and impact in their own
right.
Mark Sealey
Another excellent issue in this series. Truly joyful and played with profound
gusto and sympathy.
Reviews of other releases in this series
| CC72241 | Vocal works v1 | |
| CC72244 | Vocal works v2 | |
| CC72245 | Harpsichord works v2 | |
| CC72249 | Organ works v5 | |
| CC72250 | Vocal works v4 | |
| CC72251 | Chamber works v1 | |
| CC72252 | Chamber works v2 | |
| CC72253 | Vocal works v5 | |
| CC72254 | Chamber works v3 |