8.2 Buxtehude and North German organ music

The North German Organ School, led by Dietrich Buxtehude, revolutionized Baroque organ music. It emphasized virtuosity, improvisation, and the stylus phantasticus, showcasing the capabilities of large organs and inspiring future composers like J.S. Bach.

Buxtehude's compositions featured multi-sectional praeludia, virtuosic toccatas, and innovative chorale settings. His improvisatory style and influence on organ development left a lasting legacy, shaping the Baroque organ repertoire and performance practices for centuries.

North German Organ School and Buxtehude

Features of North German organ school

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• Emphasized virtuosity and technical brilliance showcased through extensive use of pedal solos and complex pedal parts that highlighted the capabilities of large North German organs (Arp Schnitger organs)
• Employed stylus phantasticus, a free improvisatory style characterized by contrasting sections and sudden changes in mood, texture, and tempo
• Influenced the development of Baroque organ music by expanding the organ repertoire and inspiring later composers such as J.S. Bach

Compositional techniques in Buxtehude's works

• Composed multi-sectional praeludia that alternated between free improvisatory passages and strict imitative counterpoint, integrating various styles and forms within a single composition
• Created toccatas with an improvisatory character featuring virtuosic pedal solos and contrasting sections such as fugal passages and free rhapsodic episodes
• Developed chorale settings that ornamented chorale melodies using varied treatments such as bicinium, motet-style, and fantasia-style settings, and incorporated chorale melodies as cantus firmus in larger multi-sectional works

Role of improvisation in Buxtehude's music

• Improvisation served as a central aspect of Buxtehude's musical practice, as he was renowned for his improvisational skills and his compositions often reflected an improvisatory character
• Employed stylus phantasticus in his organ works, a free improvisatory style that allowed for artistic expression, virtuosity, and sudden changes in mood, texture, and tempo with contrasting sections like toccata-like passages and fugal episodes
• Influenced performance practice by encouraging creative interpretation, ornamentation, and emphasizing the organist's ability to improvise and adapt to the instrument and acoustic environment

Buxtehude's influence on organ development

• Expanded the organ repertoire by composing a substantial body of works including praeludia, toccatas, and chorale settings that showcased the full potential of the organ as a solo instrument
• Influenced later composers, notably J.S. Bach who admired Buxtehude's work, journeyed to Lübeck to meet and learn from him, and incorporated Buxtehude's compositional techniques and styles into his own organ works
• Inspired other Baroque composers such as Georg Böhm and Nicolaus Bruhns
• Left a lasting legacy in organ composition and performance, with his works serving as a cornerstone of the Baroque organ repertoire and continuing to influence organ composition and performance practice for centuries after his death