Editing Dieterich Buxtehude (section)

===Keyboard works===

====Preludes and toccatas====
The nineteen organ ''praeludia'' (or ''preludes'') form the core of Buxtehude's work and are ultimately considered{{by whom|date=December 2023}} his most important contributions to the music literature of the seventeenth century. They are sectional compositions that alternate between free improvisation and strict counterpoint. They are usually either [[fugue]]s or pieces written in fugal manner; all make heavy use of pedal and are idiomatic to the organ. These preludes, together with pieces by [[Nicolaus Bruhns]], represent the highest point in the evolution of the [[German organ schools|north German organ prelude]], and the so-called ''[[stylus phantasticus]]''. They were undoubtedly among the influences of J.S. Bach, whose organ preludes, toccatas and fugues frequently employ similar techniques.<ref>While John Butt (''Cambridge Companion to Bach'', Cambridge UP, 1997, 110; books.google.com/books?id=MysXAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT110) believes the centrality of Buxtehude's on Bach's ''toccatas'', David Schulenberg emphasizes the influence of several composers. Schulenberg reserves the word "especially" for Johann Adam Reincken: "Closer to a small group of north-German toccatas, especially one by Reincken [...] that resemble the early-Baroque type in being composed of distinct contrasting sections." Schulenberg, ''The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach'' (NY: Routledge, 1992 [rev. ed., 2013]), 98.
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The preludes are quite varied in style and structure, and are therefore hard to categorize, as no two praeludia are alike.<ref name="Snyder"/> The texture of Buxtehude's praeludia can be described as either free or fugal.<ref name="Archbald">Archbald, Lawrence. Style and Structure in the Praeludia of Dietrich Buxtehude. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1985.</ref> They consist of strict diatonic harmony and secondary dominants.<ref name="Archbald"/> Structure-wise, there is usually an introductory section, a fugue and a postlude, but this basic scheme is very frequently expanded: both BuxWV 137 and BuxWV 148 include a full-fledged chaconne along with fugal and toccata-like writing in other sections, BuxWV 141 includes two fugues, sections of imitative counterpoint and parts with chordal writing. Buxtehude's praeludia are not circular, nor is there a recapitulation. A fugal theme, when it recurs, does so in a new, changed way.<ref name="Archbald"/> A few pieces are smaller in scope; for example, BuxWV 144, which consists only of a brief improvisatory prelude followed by a longer fugue. The sections may be explicitly separated in the score or flow one into another, with one ending and the other beginning in the same bar. The texture is almost always at least three-voice, with many instances of four-voice polyphony and occasional sections in five voices (BuxWV 150 being one of the notable examples, with a five-voice structure in which two of the voices are taken by the pedal).

The introductory sections are always improvisatory. The preludes begin almost invariably with a single motif in one of the voices which is then treated imitatively for a bar or two. After this the introduction will most commonly elaborate on this motif or a part of it, or on a short melodic germ which is passed from voice to voice in three- or four-voice polyphonic writing, as seen in Example 1:

[[File:Buxtehude-145-intro.gif|center|thumb|810px|'''Example 1''': This is the introduction from Prelude in F major, BuxWV 145. The motivic interaction seen here, in which a short motif is passing from one voice to another, sometimes sounding in two voices simultaneously, was frequently employed by Buxtehude in his preludes, frequently expanded to four voices with heavy use of pedal.]]

Occasionally the introduction will engage in parallel 3rds, 6ths, etc. For example, BuxWV 149 begins with a single voice, proceeds to parallel counterpoint for nine bars and then segues into the kind of texture described above. The improvisatory interludes, free sections and postludes may all employ a vast array of techniques, from miscellaneous kinds of imitative writing (the technique discussed above, or "fugues" that dissolve into homophonic writing, etc.) to various forms of non-motivic interaction between voices (arpeggios, chordal style, figuration over [[pedal point]], etc.). [[Tempo]] marks are frequently present: ''Adagio'' sections written out in chords of whole- and half-notes, ''Vivace'' and ''Allegro'' imitative sections, and others.

[[File:Buxtehude-fugue-subjects.gif|right|thumb|200px|'''Example 2''': Fugue subjects from BuxWV 137, BuxWV 140, BuxWV 142 (two) and BuxWV 153]]

The number of fugues in a prelude varies from one to three, not counting the pseudo-fugal free sections. The fugues normally employ four voices with extensive use of pedal. Most subjects are of medium length (see Example 2), frequently with some degree of repercussion (note repeating, particularly in BuxWV 148 and BuxWV 153), wide leaps or simplistic runs of 16th notes. One of the notable exceptions is a fugue in BuxWV 145, which features a six-bar subject. The answers are usually tonal, on scale degrees 1 and 5, and there is little real modulation. Stretto and parallel entries may be employed, with particular emphasis on the latter. Short and simple countersubjects appear, and may change their form slightly during the course of the fugue. In terms of structure, Buxtehude's fugues are a series of expositions, with non-thematic material appearing quite rarely, if ever. There is some variation, however, in the way they are constructed: in the first and last fugues of BuxWV 136 the second voice does not state the subject as it enters during the initial exposition; in BuxWV 153 the second exposition uses the subject in its inverted form, etc. Fugue subjects of a particular prelude may be related as in [[Froberger]]'s and [[Girolamo Frescobaldi|Frescobaldi]]'s [[ricercar]]s and [[canzona]]s (BuxWV 150, 152, etc.):

[[File:Buxtehude-subjtrans.gif|center]]

The fugal procedure dissolves at the end of the fugue when it is followed by a free section, as seen in Example 4:

[[File:Buxtehude-140-bars39-42.gif|center|thumb|810px|'''Example 4''': The dissolution of the fugue before a free section. The final entry of the subject (in the pedal) is joined by the highest voice engaging in a scale run.]]

Buxtehude's other pieces that employ free writing or sectional structure include works titled ''toccata'', ''praeambulum'', etc.<ref name="Archbald"/> All are similar to the ''praeludia'' in terms of construction and techniques used, except that some of these works do not employ pedal passages or do so in a very basic way (pedal point which lasts during much of the piece, etc.). A well-known piece is BuxWV 146, in the rare key of F-sharp minor; it is believed that this prelude was written by Buxtehude especially for himself and his organ, and that he had his own way of tuning the instrument to allow for the tonality rarely used because of meantone temperament.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Koopman |first=Ton |date=1991 |title=Dietrich Buxtehude's Organworks: A Practical Help |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/965836 |journal=The Musical Times |volume=132 |issue=1777 |pages=148–153 |doi=10.2307/965836 |jstor=965836 |issn=0027-4666}}</ref>

====Chorale settings====
There are over 40 surviving chorale settings by Buxtehude, and they constitute the most important contributions to the genre in the 17th century.<ref name="Snyder"/> His settings include chorale variations, chorale ricercares, chorale fantasias and chorale preludes. Buxtehude's principal contributions to the organ chorale are his 30 short chorale preludes. The chorale preludes are usually four-part [[cantus firmus]] settings of one stanza of the chorale; the melody is presented in an elaborately ornamented version in the upper voice, the three lower parts engage in some form of counterpoint (not necessarily imitative). Most of Buxtehude's chorale settings are in this form.<ref name="Webber"/> Here is an example from chorale ''[[A Mighty Fortress is Our God|Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott]]'' BuxWV 184:

[[File:Buxtehude-chorale-ein-feste.png|center|thumb|810px|Opening bars of ''Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott'' BuxWV 184. The ornamented chorale in the upper voice is highlighted, original melody for the two lines present here is shown on separate staves. Note the basic imitative lines in bars 6–8 and 13–15.]]

The ornamented cantus firmus in these pieces represents a significant difference between the [[German organ schools|north German and the south German schools]]; [[Johann Pachelbel]] and his pupils would almost always leave the chorale melody unornamented.

The chorale fantasias (a modern term) are large-scale virtuosic sectional compositions that cover a whole strophe of the text and are somewhat similar to chorale concertos in their treatment of the text: each verse is developed separately, allowing for technically and emotionally contrasting sections within one composition.<ref name="Snyder"/> The presence of contrasting textures makes these pieces reminiscent of Buxtehude's ''praeludia''. Buxtehude was careful with correct word setting, paying particular attention to emphasis and interpretation.<ref name="Webber"/> Each section is also closely related to the text of the corresponding lines (chromatic sections to express sadness, gigue fugues to express joy, etc.). Examples include fantasias on the [hymn]s ''Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ'' BuxWV 188, ''{{lang|de|[[Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein]]}}'' BuxWV 210, ''Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren'' BuxWV 213 and ''[[Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern]]'', BuxWV 223.

Buxtehude's chorale variations are usually in two or three voices. They consist of around 3–4 variations of which only one may use the pedal. These pieces are not as important for the development of the form and not as advanced as Pachelbel's or [[Georg Böhm|Böhm]]'s contributions to the genre. There are only a few chorale variations, and there are no distinctive qualities that characterize them.<ref name="Snyder"/>

The pieces that do not fall into any of the three types are the keyboard chorale partita ''[[Auf meinen lieben Gott]],'' BuxWV 179, which, quite unusually for its time, is simultaneously a secular suite of dances and a sacred set of variations with a funerary theme;<ref>{{cite journal|title=Buxtehude and the Dance of Death: The Chorale Partita ''Auf meinem lieben Gott'' (BuxWV 179) and the ''Ars Moriendi'' in the Seventeenth Century|first=Markus|last= Rathey|journal=[[Early Music History]]|volume= 29 |year=2010| pages= 161–188|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|doi=10.1017/S0261127910000124|jstor=40800911|s2cid=190683768 }}</ref> and the ones based on the chant ([[Magnificat]]s BuxWV 203–5 and ''Te Deum laudamus'', BuxWV 218), which are structurally similar to chorale fantasias.

====Ostinato works====
The three [[ostinato]] bass works Buxtehude composed—two [[chaconne]]s (BuxWV 159–160) and a [[passacaglia]] ([[Passacaglia in D minor, BuxWV 161|BuxWV 161]])—not only represent, along with Pachelbel's six organ chaconnes, a shift from the traditional chaconne style, but are also the first truly developed north German contributions to the development of the genre.<ref name="Snyder"/> They are among Buxtehude's best-known works and have influenced numerous composers after him, most notably Bach (whose organ passacaglia is modeled after Buxtehude's) and [[Johannes Brahms]]. The pieces feature numerous connected sections, with many suspensions, changing meters, and even real modulation (in which the ostinato pattern is transposed into another key).

Some of the [[Prelude (music)|praeludia]] also make use of ostinato models. The praeludium in C major, BuxWV 137, begins with a lengthy pedal solo and concludes not with a postlude of arpeggios and scale runs, but with a comparatively short chaconne built over a three-bar ostinato pattern in the pedal:

[[File:Buxtehude-137-ciacona.gif|center|720px]]

The praeludium in G minor, BuxWV 148, in which the ostinato pattern is derived from the subject of one of the fugal sections, also ends in a chaconne. In addition, another praeludium in G minor, BuxWV 149, employs a repeating bass pattern in the beginning.

====Other keyboard works====
The rest of Buxtehude's keyboard music does not employ pedals. Of the organ works, a few keyboard canzonas are the only strictly contrapuntal pieces in Buxtehude's oeuvre and were probably composed with teaching purposes in mind.<ref name="Snyder"/> There are also three pieces labelled ''fugues'': only the first, BuxWV 174, is a real fugue. BuxWV 175 is more of a canzona (two sections, both fugal and on the same subject), while BuxWV 176 is more like a typical Buxtehude prelude, only beginning with a fugue rather than an improvisatory section, and for manuals only.

There are also 19 [[harpsichord]] suites and several variation sets. The suites follow the standard model (Allemande – Sarabande – Courante – Gigue), sometimes excluding a movement and sometimes adding a second sarabande or a couple of doubles. Like Froberger's, all dances except the gigues employ the French [[lute]] [[style brisé]], sarabandes and courantes frequently being variations on the allemande. The gigues employ basic imitative counterpoint but never go as far as the gigue fugues in the chorale fantasias or the fugal writing seen in organ preludes. It may be that the more developed harpsichord writing by Buxtehude simply did not survive: in his writings, [[Johann Mattheson]] mentioned a cycle of seven suites by Buxtehude, depicting the nature of planets, but these pieces are lost.

The several sets of arias with variations are much more developed than the organ chorale variations. BuxWV 250 ''La Capricciosa'' may have inspired Bach's ''[[Goldberg Variations]]'' BWV 988: both have 32 variations (including the two arias of the Goldberg Variations); there are a number of similarities in the structure of individual movements; both include variations in forms of various dances; both are in G major; and Bach was familiar with Buxtehude's work and admired him, as has been related above.