Buxtehude, Dietrich

Buxtehude, Dietrich (dē`trĭkh bks'təh`də), c.1637–1707, Danish composer and organist. From 1668 until his death he was organist at Lübeck, where he established a famous series of evening concerts that attracted musicians from all over northern Germany. On one occasion J. S. Bach walked about 200 miles (320 km) to hear these concerts, and his own style was much influenced by Buxtehude's choral, orchestral, and organ music. His best-known works are freely developed organ fugues and concerted choral music.

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Buxtehude, Dietrich

(born 1637, probably in Oldesloe, Holstein—died May 9, 1707, Lübeck) Danish organist and composer. He held two organist positions before being appointed organist at the important Marienkirche in Lübeck (now in Germany), where he remained for almost 40 years. There he reinstated the tradition of the Abendmusik, an annual series of church concerts. His reputation was such that in 1705 Johann Sebastian Bach traveled 200 miles there to hear him play and ended up staying three months. Buxtehude's approximately 130 surviving vocal works, usually called cantatas, can instead be classified as concertos, chorale settings, and arias. All are imbued with a devout simplicity that contrasts strongly with the elaborations of their Bachian successors. He also composed almost 100 works for organ, some 20 keyboard suites, and more than 20 chamber sonatas.