Editing Dieterich Buxtehude (section)

====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.