Jesu meines Lebens Leben (BuxWV 62)
Befiehl dem Engel, daß er komm (BuxWV 10)
Fürwahr, er trug unsere Krankheit (BuxWV 31)
Gott hilf mir (BuxWV 34)
Der Herr ist mit mir (BuxWV 15)
Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr (BuxWV 41)
Collegium
AD MOSAM was founded in 1994
on the initiative of artistic leader Huub Ehlen. The ensemble is a select
company of professional singers, soloists and instrumentalists, each an
ambassador for baroque music in an authentic and – importantly –
powerful way. Ad Mosam can perform in a variety of combinations as choir,
orchestra, solo ensemble or consort. The orchestral players are almost
without exception members of famous ensembles. A distinguishing characteristic
of Ad Mosam is that the vocal soloists also sing the choir parts, as was
often the case in the Baroque.
Alongside the great works such as the Bach passions, the Lutheran Masses,
the Maria Vespers of Monteverdi and the Missa Salisburgensis of Biber,
thematically-based programs are often presented. This approach has led
to concerts in combination with jazz musicians, poets and dancers. Although
the Collegium performs widely in European Limburg, it is also a regular
guest at the Festival of Flanders, the Festival Musica Sacra, and in Amsterdam.
Collegium Ad Mosam is included in the Provincial Culture Plan of Limburg,
and receives a subsidy from the province. The ensemble is also subsidised
by the council of Sittard-Geleen, where the group is based, and enjoys
partnerships with a number of sponsors.
Dietrich (Diederik) Buxtehude (Oldesloe
1637 – Lübeck 1707) came from a respectable Danish family of
organists. He must have received his initial musical training from his
father Johannes, for 30 years organist at the Saint Olau Church in Helsingor.
After his study in Copenhagen – we know very little of his musical
education – he should, by tradition, have succeeded his father in
Helsingor, but it seems the young man had greater ambition. In 1668 he
was appointed successor to Franz Tunder at the Marienkirche in Lübeck,
a wealthy Hanseatic League city with an exceptional musical infrastructure.
Alongside organist, he was also Werkmeister, an administrative church
post that included responsibility for training organists and the organisation
and direction of secular concerts, but stopped short of directing the
larger choral performances in the church – a task that belonged to
the Cantor. The secular concerts had existed during Tunder’s period,
and became a Lübeck tradition, thanks to the traders. Buxtehude also
ran the Abendmusiken (Evening Music), and moved the Abendspiele (Evening
Playing) to Sunday. He had more faith in the generosity of the wealthy
burgers than the travelling merchants.
The post of Werkmeister in Lübeck was one of the most important functions
in all North German church music, and Buxtehude was well known while he
was alive, famous not only for his organ-playing (his improvisations were
legendary), but also for his composing. He was remembered only as an organist
25 years after his death, and almost forgotten 25 years later still.
It seems that, once appointed, he never left the post at Lübeck.
He held a great attraction for young musicians, including Mattheson and
Händel, and we all know that Johann Sebastian Bach gained much from
the great master: against all the rules, he managed to extend a study
trip to Lübeck to four months. The result is unmistakenly recognisable
in some of his cantatas, as, for example, in the fragile opening sonata
of the Actus Tragicus (BWV 106), but also in the larger, celebratory works.
The works in this recording are some of the most beautiful examples of Buxehude’s multi-voice compositions.