Buxtehude: Trio Sonatas Op. 2

Album review

When Danish composer and organist Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) is predominantly remembered and celebrated for his organ and vocal repertoire, it’s very easy to entirely overlook the fact that his two Books of Trio Sonatas are considered to represent some of that genre’s finest achievements. Combining the stylus phantasticus – a free-form style which frequently feels improvisatory, but with tighter-constructed fugues also part of the package – with the similar experimental style of the sonata concertata, these works offer chamber ensembles a multitude of ways to shine. Which was exactly what harpsichordist Jonathan Cohen and his versatile ensemble Arcangelo did in 2017 when they chose the first book for their first recording devoted entirely to instrumental chamber music. Now, the good news is that their presentation of the second book is no less enjoyable.

Published in 1696, this Second Book showcases the musical internationalism – Baltic, Italian, German, English, French – flourishing in the north German city of Lübeck, where Buxtehude spent the latter half of his life as organist at its Marienkirche; and indeed of Hamburg, where the book’s type was set. Its seven Sonatas also display Buxtehude’s own individualism: through unusual instrumentation which pairs the violin not with an instrument of the same tessitura, but instead with the lower, darker-toned viola da gamba; the use of “soggetti” themes whose notes are conversions of alphabetical letters, using solfège; the extreme rhythmic complexity.

All of this is satisfyingly brought off by Cohen and his ensemble. Violinist Sophie Gent and gambist Jonathan Manson are eminently sympathetic partners, dovetailing and contrasting with each other as and when required, and gliding and skipping with utter naturalness through their successions of rhythmical googlies. Thomas Dunford’s lute support is sparklingly musical. Equally worthy of mention is Cohen’s carefully matched harpsichord, which is a gorgeously, daintily full and resonant copy of a double manual French model by Pierre Donzelague, who would have worked with Rameau, and whose Flemish-influenced instruments are the earliest extant examples of full-sized compass French harpsichords.

Add impeccable balancing and polished engineering, and it’s all very enjoyable indeed. © Charlotte Gardner/Qobuz